UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
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The 

Cynegetica  of  Nemesianus 


A  THESIS 

PRESENTED  TO  THE  FACULTY  OF  THE  GRADUATE  SCHOOL 
OF  CORNELL   UNIVERSITY   FOR   THE   DEGREE  OF 

DOCTOR  OF  PHILOSOPHY 


By 
DONNIR   IMARTIN 


'4tZ8  ^'  11 


ini7 


The 

Cynegetica  of  Nemesianus 


A  THESIS 

PRESENTED  TO  THE  FACULTY  OF  THE  GRADUATE  SCHOOL 
OF  CORNELL   UNIVERSITY   FOR   THE   DEGREE  OF 

DOCTOR  OF  PHILOSOPHY 


By 
DONNIS  MARTIN 


lor 


To 

Prof.  C.  E.  Bennett,  of  Cornell  University, 

for  his  kindly  interest  and  many  helpful 

suggestions  the  author  wishes  to 

express  sincere  thanks. 


)9/7 


INTRODUCTION 
History  of  the  Manuscripts 

Only  three  manuscripts  of  the  Cynegetica  of  Neme- 
sianus  are  in  existence.  Of  these  the  best  is  Parisinus 
7561,  designated  as  A  by  Baehrens  and  Postgate. 
This  MS.  belongs  to  the  tenth  century.  Parisinus  4839, 
designated  as  B  by  Baehrens,  is  also  a  manuscript  of  the 
tenth  centtiry  but  is  so  poor  that  its  readings  are  of  little 
value.  The  third  MS.  which  we  have  is  Vindobonensis 
3261,  designated  as  C  by  Baehrens,  as  o-  by  Postgate. 
This  MS.  is  a  work  of  the  sixteenth  century  and  contains, 
besides  the  Cynegetica  of  Nemesianus,  the  Cynegetica 
of  Grattius  and  the  so-called  Halieutica  of  Ovid. 
Hence  the  history  of  this  MS.  is  closely  connected  with 
that  of  the  MSS.  of  Grattius  and  an  extensive  treatment 
of  this  has  been  given  by  H.  Schenkl,  Zu  Grattius  und 
anderen  lateinischen  Dichtern,  Jahrb.  f.  class.  Philol. 
Suppl.  Bd.   24,  387  ff. 

The  Cynegetica  of  Grattius  and  the  Halieutica  of 
Ovid  are  found  in  two  old  MSS.  of  the  ninth  century. 
The  older  is  Codex  Vindobonensis  277,  fol.  55-73;  the 
younger  is  Codex  Parisinus  8071  (or  Thuaneus)  which 
contains  only  the  first  159  verses  of  the  Cynegetica  of 
Grattius.  The  readings  of  these  two  MSS.  agree  to 
such  an  extent  that  M.  Haupt,  who  issued  the  first 
critical  edition  of  Grattius  and  Nemesianus,  suspected 
that  the  Parisinus  was  a  copy  of  the  Vindobonensis.^ 


'Ovidii  Halieutica,  Gratii  ct  Ncmcsiani  Cynegetica  ex  rcc. 
M.  Hauptii,  p.  13. 


,'i*J3H19 


L.  Traubc  first  expressed  himself  deeidedly  in  favor  of 
the  dependence  of  the  Parisian  MS.  upon  Cod.  Vindob. 
277.^  This  fact  is  recognized  by  SchenkP  and  by 
F.  Vollmer.^  In  the  case  of  the  HaHeutica  and  the 
Cynegetica  of  Grattius  our  MS.  of  the  sixteenth  century, 
Vindob.  3261,  is  also  an  obvious  copy  of  Codex  Vindob. 
277.  From  a  note  on  the  fly  leaf  this  MS.  claims  to  be 
the  work  of  Actius  Sincerus  Sannazarius.  There  also 
exists  another  MS.  of  the  sixteenth  century,  containing 
onl}^  the  Grattius  and  the  HaHeutica,  which  is  evidently 
the  work  of  the  same  hand.  From  a  comparison  of  the 
readings  of  these  two  MSS.  Schenkl  concludes  that 
Sannazarius  must  have  made  two  attempts  at  copying 
the  old  MS.;  that  the  copy  found  in  Vindob.  277,  fol. 
74-83,  from  its  many  lacunae  and  faulty  readings,  was 
his  first  attempt;  not  content  with  this  he  made  a 
second  effort  at  deciphering  the  old  MS.  and  the  results 
of  this  we  have  preserv^ed  in  Codex  Vindob.  3261.  The 
question  then  arises  as  to  whether  the  old  Cod.  Vindob. 
277  originally  contained  also  the  Cynegetica  of  Nemesia- 
nus  and  whether  it  was  this  MS.,  containing  all  three 
works,  which  Sannazarius  brought  to  Italy  and  from 
which  the  Aldine  edition  was  printed. 

This  we  are  led  to  believe  from  the  words  of  George 
Logus  who  issued  the  Aldine  edition  in  1534.  He  pro- 
fesses that  this  edition  is  a  copy  made  by  a  German 
youth,  Aesiander,  from  the  old  codex  of  Sannazar: 
"Aesiander  quidem  ex  uetustissimo  codice,  quod  nobilis 
et  cultissimus  nostri  temporis  poeta  Accius  Syncerus 
Sannazarius  longobardicis  literis  scriptum  ex  Galliis 
secum   aliquando   attulerat,    quam   potuit  integre   et 


^Berlin.  Phil.  Woch.  1896,  1050. 

^op.  cit.  p.  387.  'P.  L.  M.  2.  I.  praef. 


incomipte  descripsit  (i.  e.  Grattius)  una  cum  autoribus 
illi  coniunctis  (i.  e.  the  Cynegetica  of  Nemesianus  and 
Halieutica  of  Ovid)."  According  to  the  words  of 
Logus,  Aesiander  copied  the  three  poems  from  the  old 
codex  of  Sannazar  which  he  had  brought  from  Gaul. 
We  have  other  evidence  supporting  the  fact  that  Sanna- 
zarius  brought  the  three  poems  together  to  Italy. 
Lilius  G>Taldus,  Historia  poetaruni  Dial.  4,  says: 
"Sed  quod  Cynegetica  Gratius  scripserit,  Actius 
Sanazarus  mihi  aliisque  plirribus  asseruit  et  ostendit 
cimi  Neapoli  animi  gratia  ex  urbe  profecti  essemus :  se 
enim  ex  Heduorum  finibus  atque  e  Turonibus  detulisse 
opusculum  de  piscibus  Ouidii  et  C}Tiegetica  Gratii  et 
Nemesiani.  Id  quod  etiam  suo  scripto  testatus  est 
Pontanus  quadam  sua  epistola  ad  ipsum  Actium  et 
P.  Summontius."  From  the  letter  of  Pontanus  to 
Sannazarius,  to  which  G5n*aldus  refers,  it  seems  that 
Sannazarius  had  sent  word  from  France  of  the  new 
works  which  he  had  discovered  and  the  writer  makes 
mention  of  the  'fishes  of  Ovid'  and  a  poem  on  hunting.^ 
P.  Summontius,  a  close  friend  of  Sannazarius,  also 
declares  in  his  letters:  "  Is  etiam  ad  nos  attulit  Ouidii 
fragmentum  de  piscibus,  Gratii  poetae  cynegeticon, 
cuius  meminit  Ouidius  ultima  de  Ponto  elegia,  cynege- 
ticon item  Aurelii  Nemesiani,  qui  floruit  sub  Numeriano 
imperatore,  et  Rutilii  Namatiani  elegos."-  Hence  it  is 
evident  that  Sannazarius  brought  the  Halieutica  and 
the  Cynegetica  of  Grattius  and  Nemesianus  to  Italy 
and  from  the  assertions  of  Logus  they  were  in  the  same 
MS.  Yet  in  the  case  of  the  Halieutica  and  Grattius, 
Schenkl  shows  that  the  Aldine  text  does  not  follow  the 
old  Vindob.  277  alone.'     Against  this  it  agrees  in  many 


'Sec  Haupt,  p.  23.       'See  Haupt,  p.  24.         'op.  cit.  p.  393. 
5 


instances  with  the  first  copy  made  by  Sannazarius, 
Vindob.  277,  fol.  74-83;  in  many  instances  with  the 
second  copy,  Cod.  Vindob.  3261.  From  this  fact 
Schenkl  concludes  that  Aesiander  did  not  have  the  old 
MS.  itself  but  a  third  copy  of  it  made  by  Sannazarius, 
in  which  the  deciphering  of  the  MS.  had  progressed  still 
farther.  Hence  it  is  evident  that  the  words  of  Logus  in 
regard  to  the  old  codex  of  Sannazarius  are  not  to  be 
trusted. 

Schenkl  adds  still  another  argument  against  the 
assumption  that  Codex  Vindob.  277  ever  contained  the 
C>Tiegetica  of  Nemesianus.  This  MS.  contains  at 
present  some  verses  of  the  Eucheriae,  th  e  Halieutica,  a 
short  epigram  (Anth.  391),  and  the  Cynegetica  of 
Grattius.  These  are  arranged  in  two  quaternions, 
numbered  1 7  and  18,  so  that  it  is  evident  that  part  of  the 
MS.  has  been  lost.  The  Thuaneus  contains  these  same 
works  but  preceded  by  several  other  selections.  By  a 
computation  of  the  pages  and  lines  which  have  been 
lost  at  the  beginning  of  Vindob.  277,  and  by  a  compari- 
son with  the  contents  of  the  Thuaneus,  Schenkl  proves 
that  the  Paris  MS.  minus  the  satires  of  Juvenal  (fol. 
2-22)  is  a  copy  made  from  the  Vindobonensis  when  it 
was  complete.^  Hence  it  is  evident  that  the  quaternions 
preceding  17  and  18  of  Cod.  Vindob.  277  did  not  contain 
the  Cynegetica  of  Nemesianus;  nor  could  it  have 
followed  the  Grattius  since  the  worn  parchment  of  the 
last  sheet  shows  that  it  has  formed  for  centuries  the 
close  of  the  mutilated  codex.  But  just  as  Aesiander 
did  not  copy  the  Halieutica  and  Grattius  from  the  old 
MS.  but  from  a  copy  made  by  Sannazarius,  so  it  was 
only  from  a  copy  that  he  received  the  Cynegetica  of 


'op.  cit.  399-400. 


Nemesianus.  This  copy  which  Sannazarius  brought 
from  France  was  probably  the  same  as  Cod.  Vindob. 
3261  and  from  the  similarity  of  its  readings  must  go 
back  to  Parisinus  7561.^ 

The  Archetype 

From  the  fact  that  certain  verses  in  our  MSS.  are 
obviously   out   of  place,    Haupt  has  formed  a  most 
plausible  theory  as  to  the  form  of  the  ancient  MS.  from 
which  our  copies  are  derived  and  as  to  the  method  by 
which    these    transpositions    arose.^    Verse    12    as    it 
stands  in  the  MSS.  after  verse  24  is  clearly  out  of  place. 
Haupt  then  supposes  that  the  poem  began  on  the 
reverse  side  of  a  leaf  and  that  the  first  page  contained 
23  verses.     At  the  bottom  of  this  page  there  was  written 
in  the  margin  the  verse  which  should  have  been  placed 
after  verse  1 1  and  which  had  been  omitted  by  the  scribe. 
The  opposite  page,  on  the  second  leaf,  contained  the 
same  number  of  verses,  so  that  the  total  of  the  two 
pages  was  47  verses.     Then  the  third  page,  or  reverse 
side  of  the  second  leaf,  began  with  verse  48.     If  this 
page  and  the  two  following  contained  25  verses  each, 
the  third  leaf  or  fifth  page  ended  with  verse  122.     This 
verse  is  followed  in  ova  MSS.  by  seven  verses,   123-9, 
which  are  out  of  place  and  which  in  the  archetype  must 
have  followed  verse  230.     If  we  omit  these  verses  here, 
the  fourth  leaf  or  sixth  page  began  with  verse   130. 
From  verse  130  to  verse  230  there  are  10 1  verses  which 
would  have  filled  four  pages  with  26  verses  on  one  page, 
2  5  verses  on  the  other  three  pages.     Then  in  our  ancient 
MS.  the  tenth  page  or  sixth  leaf  began  with  those  seven 


»See  Schcnkl,  op.  cit.  p.  401.  'Sec  Haupt,  Opusc.  i.  404-5. 


verses,  123-g,  followed  by  verse  231.  From  this  it  is 
e\ddent  that  the  transposition  of  these  verses  to  their 
place  after  verse  122,  as  in  our  MSS.,  must  have  arisen 
through  the  fact  that  the  scribe  in  copying  the  old 
MS.  first  sldpped  two  leaves  of  it,  the  fourth  and  fifth, 
and  thus  inserted  the  verses  in  the  wrong  place.  If  we 
count  these  verses  as  they  were  in  the  archetype,  at  the 
beginning  of  the  sixth  leaf  or  tenth  page,  we  have  102 
verses  left,  from  verse  224  to  verse  325.  These  remain- 
ing verses  would  fill  the  sixth  and  seventh  leaves  with 
26  verses  on  two  pages,  25  verses  on  the  other  two. 
Thus  verse  325  formed  the  last  verse  of  the  seventh 
leaf  or  thirteenth  page.  If  Nemesianus  left  the  poem 
in  an  unfinished  state,  as  some  have  conjectured,  we 
should  scarcely  expect  to  find  the  last  leaf  of  the  MS. 
filled  out  completely.  From  this  fact  Haupt  concludes 
that  the  other  leaves  of  the  MS.  were  lost  and  in  this 
way  only  325  verses  of  the  Cynegetica  have  survived. 

History  of  the  Editions 

The  first  edition,  as  we  have  already  noticed,  was  the 
Aldine  edition  of  George  Logus  in  1534.  Upon  this 
were  based  all  the  following  editions  until  Haupt  issued 
his  edition  in  1838  with  the  collation  of  Cod.  Vindob. 
3261.  But  since  the  Aldine  edition  was  based  either 
upon  this  MS.  or  upon  a  similar  copy  by  Sannazarius, 
we  find  the  text  of  the  early  editions  in  a  good  state, 
except  where  it  is  changed  by  bold  and  useless  conjec- 
tures. The  Aldine  edition  was  reprinted  hastily  and 
with  numerous  mistakes  by  H.  Steyner  at  Augsburg  in 
1534.  A  second  reprint  was  made  by  Seb.  Gryphius  at 
Lyons  in  1537.  This  edition  represented  the  Aldine 
more  exactly  than  that  of  Ste}Tier.     The  edition  of 


p.  Pithoeus  in  his  Epigrammata  et  poematia  uetera, 
Paris,  1590,  marked  an  advance  over  pre\dous  texts 
since  for  the  Halieutica  and  first  159  verses  of  the 
Grattius  he  had  made  a  collation  of  Parisinus  8071. 
In  1613  C.  Barth  published  his  Venatici  et  Bucolici 
poetae  latini.  This  edition  is  of  interest  because  in 
forming  his  hasty  and  arbitrary  text  Barth  made  use  of 
what  he  called  his  editio  germanica.  He  describes  it 
thus,  "uetustissima  editio  litteris  germanicis  siue 
Longobardicis  mauis,  excusa,  Lipsiae  ut  arbitror."^ 
Again  he  declares  that  it  is  over  a  century  old.-  But 
other  than  this  he  gives  no  definite  information  about 
it  and  even  the  editors  of  his  own  day  accused  him  of 
inventing  this  old  edition  in  order  to  lend  authority  to 
his  own  absiird  conjectures. 

Much  superior  to  the  edition  of  Barth  was  that  of 
Ulitius,  Jani  Ulitii  uenatio  Non-antiqua,  ex  officina 
Elzeutr,  1645.  It  was  supplied  with  copious  notes.  A 
similar  edition  with  commentary  was  published  by 
Thomas  Johnson  at  London  in  1699.  The  notes  of 
Barth,  Ulitius,  and  Johnson  were  published  together  in 
the  Poetae  latini  rei  lienaticae  scriptores  et  bucolici  antiqui, 
Lugd.  Batau.  et.  Hag.  Com.,  1728.  The  next  edition 
of  the  Cynegetica  was  in  the  Poetae  latini  minores  of 
P.  Burmann,  published  at  Leyden  in  1731,  but  marked 
no  advance  over  previous  editions.  (For  an  account 
of  these  early  editions  see  Stern's  edition,  p.  9  ff.) 

With  the  edition  of  J.  C.  Wemsdorf,  Poetae  Latini 
Minores,  vol.  i,  Altenburg,  1780,  we  enter  upon  a  new 
era  in  the  textual  history  of  the  Cynegetica.  The  con- 
servatism of  the  text  and  the  scholarly  notes  make  this 
edition  still  of  worth  today.     This  text  was  reprinted 


'Calp.  Eel.  4.  34.  'Calp.  Eel.  4.  40. 

9 


by  N.  E.  Lemaire,  Paris,  1824,  with  a  few  additional 
notes  by  the  editor.  In  1832  another  valuable  edition 
of  the  Cynegetica  appeared,  Faliscus  et  Nemesianus  by 
R.  Stem.  This  edition  is  supplied  with  a  critical 
apparatus  of  the  old  editions.  The  notes  take  up  the 
problems  of  interpretation  in  a  thorough  fashion,  pre- 
senting the  views  of  previous  editors.  Although 
advance  has  since  been  made  in  establishing  a  text 
through  the  collation  of  the  MSS.,  this  edition  of  Stem's 
is  still  of  great  worth. 

The  first  edition  of  the  Cynegetica  to  be  issued  with 
the  collation  of  a  MS.  was  that  of  M.  Haupt,  published 
at  Leipzig  in  1838.  The  collation  of  Codex  Vindob. 
3261  put  the  text  on  a  firmer  basis  although  it  was  not 
altered  to  a  large  extent.  Some  years  later  the  two 
MSS.  of  the  tenth  century,  Parisinus  7561  and  4839, 
were  discovered  by  Conrad  Bursian  at  Paris.^  Both  of 
these  MSS.  were  collated  by  Baehrens  for  his  text  of  the 
Cynegetica  in  the  Poetae  Latini  Minores,  vol.  3, 
published  in  1881.  The  most  recent  text  which  has 
appeared  is  that  of  J.  P.  Postgate  in  the  Corpus  Poeta- 
rum  Latinorum,  Fasc.  5,  London  1905.  For  this  text 
Postgate  made  use  of  Parisinus  7561  and  of  Vindob. 
3261,  disregarding  Parisinus  4839,  since  its  readings  are 
so  far  inferior  to  the  other  two  MSS.  His  text  is 
naturally  marked  by  a  greater  conservatism  than  that 
of  Baehrens. 

The  Author 

The  name  of  the  poet  is  given  as  a  subscription  in 
MS.  A:  finit  m.  aurelii  nemesiani  K artaginiensis 
cynegeticon.  C  has  at  the  beginning  of  the  poem, 
M.     Aurelii     Nemesiani     Carthaginensis     cynegeticon. 


'See  Haupt,  Opusc.  i.  403. 

10 


Hincmar  of  Rheims,  who  declares  that  he  studied  the 
Cynegeticon  as  a  school-boy,  gives  the  poet's  name 
simply  as  Carthaginensis  Aurelius:  "ut  uenatores 
ferae  lustra  sequentes  agere  auditu  et  lectione  puer 
scolarius  in  libro  qui  inscribitur  Kynegeticon  Cartha- 
ginensis Aurelii  didici."^  But  from  other  sources  we 
learn  that  the  poet  was  also  called  Olympius.  The 
Aldine  edition  designates  him  as  Marcus  Aurelius 
Olympius  Nemesianus.  Flavius  Vopiscus  in  the  life  of 
Numerian  {Script.  Hist.  August.  30  ii)  refers  to  him  as 
Olympius  Nemesianus.  Lactantius,  on  Stat.  Th.  5. 
389  and  2.  58,  quotes  a  certain  Olympius.  Although  we 
have  no  works  of  Nemesianus  preserved  which  contain 
these  passages,  it  is  probable  that  Lactantius  is  referring 
to  Nemesianus  as  Olympius.  Hence  we  may  conclude 
that  the  poet's  complete  name  was  Marcus  Aurelius 
Olympius  Nemesianus. 

Since  the  poet  was  evidently  a  native  of  Africa  Wems- 
dorf  suggested  that  the  cognomen  Nemesianus  was 
derived  from  Nemeseum,  a  town  of  Marmarica.  Later 
he  preferred  to  think  the  name  derived  from  the 
Nemesii,  as  Claudianus  from  the  Claudii,  Tiberianus 
from  the  Tiberii.-  That  there  was  a  family  of  Nemesii 
seems  probable  since  the  name  Nemesius  was  borne  by 
several  martyrs  of  the  second  and  third  century  A.  D.^ 
Whatever  the  origin  of  the  name  Nemesianus  may  have 
been,  it  seems  to  have  been  peculiar  to  Africa.  We  find 
it  twice  in  ecclesiastical  history,  each  time  borne  by  an 
African.  Augustine  praises  a  boy  by  the  name  of 
Nemesianus  as  one  of  the  African  martyrs."*     Another 


>For  the  complete  passage,  see  Baehrens,  P.  L.  M.  3.  174.  n. 

^addenda  p.  294. 

»Sec  the  Onomasticon  by  Vinccntius  De-Vit.  <Serm.  286. 


Ncmesianus,  Bishop  of  Thubunas,  was  present  at  a 
council  which  Cyprianus  held  at  Carthage  in  256  A.D. 
concerning  baptism.'  To  him  and  his  fellow  workers 
Cyprianus  addresses  several  letters  (62,  70,  76).  The 
Ncniesiam  may  well  have  been  an  African  family  of 
rank  and  distinction.  From  the  fact  that  Carus  and 
his  sons,  to  whom  the  poem  is  dedicated  (v.  63  flf.),  each 
bore  the  name  of  Marcus  Aurelius,  Ulitius  suggested 
that  Ncmesianus,  whose  nomen  gentile  was  also  Aurelius, 
was  connected  by  some  bond  of  relationship  with  the 
Caesars.  But  the  evidence  is  too  slight  to  support 
such  a  supposition. 

In  regard  to  the  life  of  the  poet  we  have  little  knowl- 
edge beyond  the  fact  that  he  was  a  native  of  Carthage. 
This  fact,  as  we  have  seen,  is  attested  by  the  MSS.  and 
by  the  words  of  the  Bishop  Hincmar.  Moreover  we 
find  in  the  poem  itself  evidence  that  Ncmesianus  lived 
in  Africa.  From  the  passage  (vv.  76-85)  in  which  he 
expresses  his  desire  to  behold  the  victorious  emperors, 
Carinus  and  Numerian,  it  is  exddent  that  he  is  not  at 
Rome.  In  verses  251-2,  he  refers  to  the  Spaniards  as 
the  people  lying  beyond  the  lofty  peak  of  Calpe.  From 
this  it  is  clear  that  the  poet  was  in  Africa  or  he  could 
not  have  said  trans  ardua  Calpes  culmina. 

That  Ncmesianus  during  his  life  time  was  known  for 
his  poetical  ability  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  he  con- 
tended in  a  poetical  contest  with  Numerian,  son  of 
Carus,  who  was  himself  famous  as  a  poet  and  orator. 
Thus  Vopiscus  says  of  Numerian:  "uersu  autem  talis 
fuisse  praedicatur,  ut  omnes  poetas  sui  temporis 
uicerit.  Nam  et  cum  Olympio  Nemesiano  contendit, 
qui   aXts'jTf/.J:  •/jjvTgycXtxd  et  vauxf/.a  scripsit  inque  omni- 


'See  Cypr.  Scntentiae  Episcoporum. 


bus  colonis  inlustratus  emicuit."  Of  the  works  of 
Nemesianus  to  which  Vopiscus  refers,  we  have  only  325 
verses  of  the  C\Tiegetica.  Whether  he  also  wTote 
Halieutica  and  Nautica  is  a  matter  of  doubt  since  we 
have  only  the  statement  of  Vopiscus  as  e\ddence. 
Baehrens  would  change  the  reading  nautica  to  pontica 
with  reference  to  the  Incerti  Ponticon  Praefatio, 
P.  L.  M.  3.  32,  which  he  thinks  may  be  the  work  of 
Nemesianus.  Bemhardy  proposed  ixeutica  as  a  reading 
instead  of  nautica}  Nemesianus  would  then  have 
written,  as  Oppian  before  him,  Cynegetica,  Halieutica, 
and  Ixeutica.  This  conjecture  of  Bemhardy's  rests 
upon  the  fact  that  some  verses  de  aucnpio  have  come 
down  to  us  under  the  name  of  Nemesianus.  Gybertus 
Longolius  in  his  dialogue  on  birds  (coloniae  excudebat 
Jo.  G}TTLnicus  a.  1544)  writes:  "Nemesiani  poetae 
authoritas,  qui  de  aucupio  Latinis  uersibus  conscripsit, 
me  in  hanc  sententiam  perduxit  (tetracem  esse  urogal- 
limi).  descripserat  autem  furtim  in  bibliotheca  porcorum 
Saluatoris  Bononiensis  uersus  aliquot  Hieronymus 
Boragineus  Lubecensis,  magnae  spei  adolescens,  cum 
quo  Bononiae  et  Ferrariae  aliquandiu  communi  uita 
uixi:  ex  eis  ego  quosdam  cum.  opus  erit  historia,  tibi 
recitabo."  Longolius  then  quotes  18  verses  from 
Nemesianus  on  the  tetrax  and  later  gives  10  verses  con- 
cerning the  scolopax.  These  verses  follow  the  Cynege- 
tica in  Baehrens'  P.  L.  M.  3.  p.  203  and  Postgate's 
C.  P.  L.  Fasc.  5.  p.  572.  Longolius'  statement  as  to  the 
manner  in  which  he  obtained  the  verses  has  aroused 
distrust  and  editors  have  varied  in  their  opinions  as  to 
the  authorship.  Max  Ihm,  Rhein.  Mus.  $2.  457,  pre- 
sents the  following  arguments  in  favor  of  Nemesianus 


'Grundrisz  d.  Rom.  Lit.'  500. 

13 


as  author:  there  is  nothing  in  the  verses  de  aucupio 
which  might  not  be  attributed  to  a  poet  of  the  third 
century;  an  archaism  as  contemplauerit  (v.  3)  may  be 
compared  with  ollis  (Cyn.  264)  and  mage  (Cyn.  317); 
the  elision  of  a  long  vowel,  as  in  verses  5,6,14,27,  is  not 
strange  since  instances  of  the  same  occur  in  the  Cyne- 
getica  and  Eclogues;  there  are  reminiscences  of  Vergil 
and  other  poets  such  as  are  found  in  the  other  works  of 
Nemesianus;  finally  there  are  resemblances  to  the 
Cynegetica  and  the  Eclogues.  Of  the  passages  which 
Ihm  cites  the  only  two  which  display  much  similarity 
are  v.  21,  praeda  est  facilis  and  Cyn.  184,  faciles  ut 
sumere  praedas.  Yet  as  far  as  can  be  judged  from  these 
few  verses  de  amupio,  it  is  quite  probable  that  they  are 
the  work  of  Nemesianus. 

Date  of  Composition  of  the  Cynegetica 

We  do  not  know  when  Nemesianus  was  born  nor 
when  he  died  but  from  internal  evidence  we  are  able  to 
date  the  composition  of  the  Cynegetica.  From  the 
dedication  of  the  poem  (w.  60-85)  to  the  sons  of  Cams, 
Numerian  and  Carinus,  it  is  evident  that  Carus  was 
not  alive  at  the  time  or  the  poet  would  have  sung  of  his 
achievements  instead  of  those  of  his  sons.  The 
Emperor  Carus  died  in  the  midst  of  his  Persian  cam- 
paign, Dec.  25,  283  A.D.i  Numerian,  who  had  accom- 
panied his  father,  led  the  army  in  retreat  and  by  slow 
marches  returned  from  the  banks  of  the  Tigris  to  those 
of  the  Thracian  Bosphorus.  Here  the  army  discovered 
that  Numerian  had  been  made  away  with  by  Arrius 
Aper.     A  general  assembly  was  held  at  Chalcedon  and 

'See  w.  63-85.  n. 

14 


Diocletian  was  proclaimed  Emperor,  Sept.  17,  284 
A.D.^  It  was  then  in  the  course  of  these  eight  months, 
from  the  death  of  Carus  to  the  death  of  Nimierian,  that 
Nemesianus  composed  his  Cynegetica.  It  is  evident 
that  he  knows  of  the  victories  of  Carus  in  Persia^  and 
of  his  death.^  But  Carinus  and  Numerian  must  have 
both  been  alive  when  he  wrote  these  verses  for  he  pic- 
tures their  return  to  Rome  in  triimiph  after  their  many- 
victories. 

Wemsdorf  thought  that  the  space  of  time  intervening 
between  the  death  of  Carus  and  that  of  Numerian  was 
too  short  for  the  composition  of  such  a  work  as  the 
Cynegetica.''  From  the  statement  of  Vopiscus  that 
Nemesianus  had  written  Cynegetica,  Halieutica,  and 
Nautica,  Wemsdorf  considered  it  impossible  that 
Nemesianus  left  the  poem  in  an  unfinished  state  after 
learning  of  the  death  of  Numerian.  For  the  Haheutica 
and  Nautica,  he  argues,  are  the  minor  parts  of  hunting 
and  the  poet  would  not  have  taken  up  those  themes 
imtil  the  Cynegetica  was  finished.  Moreover  the  words 
of  Vopiscus  indicate  that  it  was  the  poet's  fame,  derived 
from  these  works,  which  led  Numerian  to  vie  with  him 
in  a  poetical  contest.  Hence  Wemsdorf  concludes  that 
the  Cynegetica  must  have  been  written  during  the  life- 
time of  Carus ;  that  after  his  death  Nemesianus  added 
this  part  of  the  exordium  in  praise  of  Carinus  and 
Numerian  and  that  the  poem  was  then  published  before 
the  death  of  Numerian  was  reported.  Stern  supports 
the  conclusions  of  Wemsdorf  by  observing  that  these 
dedicatory  verses  break  the  continuity  of  thought  in  the 
introduction  and  that  their  style  is  distinctly  different 


»vSee  Gibbon,  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire  i,  338-49- 
*See  71  f.  n.  'Sec  64.  n.  *Scc  Excursus  i. 

IS 


from  the  rest  of  the  poem.^     But  he  fails  to  prove 
either  assertion. 

It  is  absurd  to  think  that  Nemesianus  would  have 
introduced  these  verses  into  the  poem  after  he  had 
already  become  famous  as  its  author,  as  Werndorf 
suggests.  There  is  no  reason  to  assvime  that  Nemesia- 
nus was  already  known  as  the  author  of  the  Cynegetica 
when  he  matched  his  skill  against  that  of  Numerian. 
Vopiscus  wrote  after  the  death  of  Nemesianus^  and 
naturally  named  the  most  important  works  of  his  life. 
There  is  then  no  reason  to  believe  that  the  rest  of  the 
poem  was  composed  earlier  than  the  dedicatory  verses. 

It  is  evident  that  the  poem  as  it  stands  is  in  an 
unfinished  state.  In  verse  237  the  poet  promises  to 
relate  later  in  detail  the  characteristics  of  certain  dogs. 
But  the  poem  breaks  off  after  a  description  of  the  hunting 
nets  without  touching  upon  this  subject.  Moreover  we 
may  note  that  the  length  of  the  exordium,  102  verses, 
is  entirely  out  of  proportion  to  the  rest  of  the  poem. 
But  we  may  feel  sure  that  Nemesianus  did  not  leave  the 
poem  incomplete  or  Vopiscus  would  not  have  mentioned 
it  among  his  literary  achievements.  As  to  how  long  the 
poem  was  originally  we  can  only  conjecture.  In  the 
325  verses  which  we  have,  the  poet  treats  of  the  dogs, 
horses,  nets  and  hunting  equipment.  He  seems  on  the 
point  of  taking  up  the  chase  proper  when  the  poem 
closes.  From  this  we  may  infer  that  the  entire  poem 
did  not  embrace  over  700  or  800  verses  and  it  is  quite 
possible  that  a  poem  of  this  length  could  have  been 
written  and  published  within  eight  months. 


'See  pp.  31-3. 

^Note  the  tense  in  the  words  "inque  omnibus  colonis  inlustratus 
emicuit." 

16 


The  Eclogues  of  Nemesianus 

In  addition  to  the  Cynegetica  four  Eclogues,  found  in 
the  MSS.  which  contain  the  seven  Eclogues  of  Cal- 
pumius,  are  considered  the  work  of  Nemesianus.  The 
earliest  editions  assigned  all  of  these  Eclogues  to 
Calpumius  until  Angelus  Ugoletus,  in  an  edition 
printed  at  Parma  about  the  year  1500,  assigned  the  last 
four  to  Nemesianus.  This  edition  claimed  to  be  based 
upon  an  old  MS.  of  Thadaeus  Ugoletus,  brought  from 
Germany,  which  gave  as  the  heading  to  the  first  seven 
Eclogues:  Titi  Calpurnii  Siculi  Bticolicam  carmen  ad 
Netnesianum  K arthagmensem  incipit;  and  to  the  last 
four  Eclogues:  Aurelii  Nemesiani  Poetae  cartaginensis 
Aegloga  prima  incipit.  The  Codex  Gaddianus,  of  the 
fifteenth  century,  has  also  the  heading:  Aiireliani 
Nemesiani  Carthag.  eel.  IIII.  Finally  the  Neapolitan 
MS.,  which  is  one  of  the  best,  has  no  inscription  but  the 
subscription:  Aureliani  Nemesiani  Cartag.  hiicol. 
explicit.  The  testimony  of  these  MSS.  gave  rise  to  the 
theory  that  the  last  four  Eclogues  were  the  work  of 
Nemesianus.  The  dedication  of  the  Eclogues  of  Cal- 
pumius to  Nem^esianus  as  in  the  edition  of  Ugoletus  and 
in  some  of  the  MSS.  probably  arose  through  a  confusion 
of  the  subscription  to  the  Eclogues  of  Calpurnius  with 
the  title  to  those  of  Nemesianus. 

The  question  as  to  the  authorship  of  the  last  four 
Eclogues  seems  to  have  been  definitely  decided  by  the 
treatise  of  M.  Haupt,  De  carminihus  Bucolicis  Calpurnii 
et  Nemesiani,  1854  (Opusc.  i.  358).  By  his  investiga- 
tions Haupt  has  shown  a  number  of  essential  dififerences 
between  the  first  seven  Eclogues  and  the  last  four. 

Calpumius  shortens  final  o  only  in  agreement  with 
classical  usage,  as  puto  6.  83,  nescio  i.  21.      Hut  in  llic 

17 


Eclogues  assigned  to  Nemesianus  there  are  several  bold 
uses  of  this  metrical  license  as  exspecto  (2.  26),  ambo 
(2.  17),  coniungo  (3.  14),  mulcendo  (i.  53).  In  the 
Eclogues  of  Calpumius  there  are  but  eight  elisions;  in 
those  of  Nemesianus  there  are  thirty-nine.  Cal- 
pumius does  not  elide  a  long  vowel  and  even  short  ones 
are  usually  elided  only  in  the  first  foot.  On  the  other 
hand,  in  the  last  four  Eclogues  half  of  the  elisions  occur 
in  feet  other  than  the  first  and  there  are  a  few  instances 
of  the  elision  of  a  long  vowel  (i.  21;  2.  14,  32).  In  the 
Eclogues  of  Calpumius  the  caesura  occurs  frequently 
after  the  second  syllable  of  a  dactyl  in  the  fourth  foot, 
while  in  the  Eclogues  of  Nemesianus  this  caesura  is 
found  only  six  times.  These  metrical  dissimilarities 
make  it  evident  that  the  eleven  Eclogues  are  not  the 
work  of  the  same  author.  Furthermore  the  last  four 
Eclogues  contain  obvious  imitations  of  the  Eclogues  of 
Calpumius.  This  imitation  is  not  such  as  would  indi- 
cate an  identity  of  authorship  but  verses  and  even 
couplets  are  taken  entire  from  the  first  seven  Eclogues. 
(Cf.  Calp.  3.  56  flf.,  Nemes.  2.  t,-!  ff. ;  Calp.  3.  61,  Nemes. 
2.  78;  Calp.  2.  88,  Nemes.  2.  74;  Calp.  2.  i,  Nemes. 
2.  I.)  A  poet  would  scarcely  repeat  himself  in  such  a 
fashion  as  this,  while,  from  the  extent  to  which  Neme- 
sianus in  his  Cynegetica  imitated  the  third  Georgic  of 
Vergil,  it  would  not  be  strange  if  in  his  pastoral  poetry 
he  borrowed  to  such  an  extent  from  another. 

From  the  agreement  of  the  Cynegetica  with  the  four 
Eclogues  in  question,  in  the  very  points  in  which  these 
Eclogues  diflFer  from  those  of  Calpumius,  it  seems  still 
more  probable  that  they  are  the  work  of  Nemesianus. 
Final  o  is  shortened  in  cano{i),  devotio  (83),  exerceto  (187). 
The  caesura  after  the  fourth  trochee  occurs  more  fre- 

18 


quently  than  in  the  Eclogues  but  only  13  times  in  the 
325  verses.  There  are  39  elisions  in  the  Eclogues,  51 
in  the  Cynegetica.  Schenkl  has  shown  (Praef.  p.  31) 
that  in  the  character  of  the  elisions  also  there  is  agree- 
ment between  the  Cynegetica  and  the  Eclogues.  Of 
the  elisions  in  the  Eclogues  those  of  qtie  amount  to  56 
per  cent,  in  the  C3Tiegetica  45  per  cent.  In  the 
Eclogues  92.5  per  cent  of  the  ehded  syllables  are  short, 
in  the  Cynegetica  94  per  cent.  The  elisions  of  a  short  e 
number  82  per  cent  in  the  Eclogues,  79  per  cent  in  the 
Cynegetica.  44  per  cent  of  the  elisions  in  the  Eclogues 
are  in  the  first  foot,  41  per  cent  in  the  Cynegetica. 

Apart  from  the  metrical  similarities,  there  is  other 
evidence  which  supports  the  conclusion  that  Nemesianus 
is  the  author  of  these  four  Eclogues.  In  the  third 
Eclogue  (23)  where  Pan  is  singing  the  praises  of  Bacchus 
these  words  occiir:  "hunc  pater  omnipotens  uenturi 
prouidus  aem — pertulit,  et  iusto  produxit  tempore 
partus."  In  the  Cynegetica  similar  verses  are  found 
(19) :  "ut  pater  omnipotens  matemos  reddere  menses — 
dignatus  iusti  complerit  tempora  partus."  Both  pas- 
sages are  an  imitation  of  Statins,  Th.  7.  166:  "cui  tu 
dignatus  limina  uitae — praereptumque  uterum  et 
matemos  reddere  menses. ' '  Other  imitations  of  Statins 
occur  in  these  Eclogues  and  in  the  Cynegetica  while 
none  occur  in  the  Eclogues  of  Calpurnius.'  The 
unusual  expression  lactis  fluores  which  occurs  in  the 
Cynegetica  (220)  is  found  also  in  the  third  Eclogue  (67). 
There  are  other  expressions  also  which  by  their  simi- 
larity of  phrasing  betoken  the  work  of  the  same  author : 
Eel.  3.  60.  non  acquis  uiribus 
Cyn.  182.      non  uiribus  acquis 

'Haupt  considers  Wemsdorf  wrong  in  comparing  4.  87  with 
Stat.  Silv.  5.  I.  II. 

19 


Eel.  I.  12.     hilares     ....     amores 
C}m.  I.  hilaresque  labores 

Eel.  4.  6.       totis  disetirrere  siluis 
C>Ti.  49.        totisque  eiti  discurrimus  amis 
qtdn  et  and  qtiin  etiam,  which  oeeur  so  frequently  in  the 
Cynegetiea  as  to  be  displeasing,  are  found  in  the  Eclo- 
gues of  Nemesianus  (3.  27,  63 ;  2.74)  but  not  in  those  of 
Calpumius. 

Other  Writers  of  Cynegetica 

Nemesianus  was  preceded  by  four  writers  of  Cynege- 
tica, three  of  whom  were  Greek  and  one,  Roman.  The 
earliest  treatise  on  hunting  is  the  one  ascribed  to 
Xenophon,  but  between  this  and  the  poem  of  Nemesia- 
nus there  is  very  little  resemblance.  Because  Xeno- 
phon, in  his  Cjmegeticus,  failed  to  treat  of  the  grey- 
hoimd,  Arrian  of  Nicomedia,  who  lived  at  the  beginning 
of  the  second  century  A.D.,  wrote  a  treatise  devoted 
entirely  to  coursing  with  the  greyhound.^  This  work 
was  intended,  as  Arrian  tells  us,  as  a  supplement  to  the 
Cynegeticus  of  Xenophon.  Although  Nemesianus  is 
the  only  other  of  the  cynegetical  writers  who  has  a 
knowledge  of  coiirsing,  strangely  enough  he  has  not 
imitated  Arrian,  the  first  writer  of  a  courser's  manual. 
A  much  larger  debt  he  owes  to  Oppian,  author  of  a  poem 
on  hunting  in  four  books,  who  lived  in  the  time  of 
Caracalla.  In  expression  and  in  subject  matter,  the 
poem  of  Nemesianus  resembles  especially  the  first  book 
of  Oppian's  Cynegetica. 

Nemesian's  predecessor  in  the  writing  of  Latin 
Cynegetica  was  Grattius,  imder  whose  name  541  verses 


•See  note  on  verse  182  flf. 

20 


of  a  poem  on  hunting  have  been  preserved.  That  this 
work  was  known  dtiring  the  classical  period  is  attested 
by  Ovid's  reference  to  Grattius,  Pont.  4.  16.  34. 
G.  Curcio  places  the  date  of  its  publication  between 
19  B.  C.  and  17  A.  D.^  The  question  as  to  how  much 
Nemesianus  owes  to  Grattius,  as  his  only  Latin  prede- 
cessor, is  an  interesting  one  and  has  been  thoroughly 
investigated  by  Curcio,  Rivistadi.  Fil.  27.  p.  447.  This 
subject  had  been  previously  considered  by  M.  FiegP 
who  noted  several  passages  in  the  Cynegetica  of 
Nemesianus  as  imitations  of  Grattius.  Curcio  rightly 
judges  that  these  passages  fail  to  prove  such  imitation. 
There  is  practically  no  similarity  of  diction  and  the 
similarity  of  thought  is  only  such  as  we  would  e.xpect  to 
find  in  two  poems  treating  of  the  same  subject.  Curcio 
notes  the  fact  that  the  arrangement  of  the  material  in 
the  Cynegetica  of  Nemesianus  is  exactly  the  reverse  of 
that  of  Grattius;  that  in  the  many  breeds  of  dogs  and 
horses  which  Grattius  names  and  in  his  careful  charac- 
terization of  them  he  displays  a  much  larger  special 
knowledge  than  Nemesianus.  Fvirthermore,  if  we 
compare  the  technical  terms  which  each  poet  has  used, 
in  regard  to  the  nets,  the  breeding  and  the  care  of  the 
dogs,  medicinal  aids  for  the  rabies,  etc.,  it  will  be  seen 
that  there  is  not  the  slightest  similarity  between  the 
language  of  the  two  poets.  In  each  instance  Grattius 
is  more  full  in  his  instructions,  in  the  use  of  technical 
terms  but  less  polished  and  poetical  than  Nemesianus. 
A  close  study  of  the  two  poems  shows  such  wide  diver- 


•Rivista  di.  Fil.  26.  p.  57. 

*Des  Gratius  Fal.  Cynegetica,  seine  Vorganger  und  seine 
Nachfolgcr,  Gorz  1890.  Unfortunately  I  have  not  been  able  to 
obtain  this  work. 


2  I 


gences  in  st}'le  and  treatment  that  we  may  well  doubt 
whether  Nemesianus  even  knew  of  the  Cynegetica  of 
Grattius.  He  may  be  sincere  when  he  declares  that  he 
enters  upon  a  new  field  and  treads  the  untouched  moss 
(w.  8-1 1). 


The  Third  Georgic  of  Vergil 
Nemesianus  is  much  more  indebted  to  Vergil  than  to 
any  of  the  v^nritevs  of  Cynegetica.  For  that  part  of  the 
Cynegetica  which  has  come  down  to  us,  he  evidently 
chose  as  his  model  the  third  Georgic  of  Vergil.  How 
closely  he  followed  this  model  may  be  seen  from  a  com- 
parison of  the  two  poems.  Each  poet  expresses  his 
scorn  of  dealing  with  the  trite  themes  of  mythology 
(G  2-8;  C}ai.  15-47)-  Each  exults  that  he  is  to  sing 
of  a  new  and  rustic  theme  and  predicts  the  glory  which 
he  will  win  in  essaying  this  new  path  (G.  8-12,  291-3; 
Cyn.  1-15).  Each  promises  that  in  the  future  he  will 
gird  himself  to  sing  of  a  loftier  theme,  Vergil  the  vic- 
tories of  Caesar,  Nemesianus  those  of  Numerian  and 
Carinus  (G.  46-8;  Cyn.  63  ff.).  The  subject  matter  of 
the  third  Georgic  is  similar  to  that  of  the  Cynegetica 
since  it  deals  with  the  care  of  the  cattle  and  flocks  with 
a  few  words  on  the  care  of  the  dogs.  Hence  Nemesianus 
fotmd  ample  material  for  imitation.  He  follows  Vergil 
in  the  description  of  the  good  points  of  a  horse  (G. 
79-88;  Cyn.  243-50);  in  the  comparison  of  the  fleet- 
ness  of  the  horse  with  the  north  wind  (G.  196-201; 
Cyn.  272-8).  In  the  few  words  which  Vergil  devotes 
to  the  care  of  the  dogs  and  the  pleasures  of  himting, 
the  resemblance  to  the  more  extensive  treatment  of  the 
Cynegetica  is  apparent  (G.   404-13;    Cyn.    103-237). 


Other  than  these  general  points  of  similarity  we  find 
constantly,  throughout  the  Cynegetica,  words  and 
phrases  borrowed  from  the  third  Georgia.  Many  of 
these  parallel  passages  are  cited  in  the  notes  on  the 
Cynegetica  and  make  it  apparent  to  what  a  large 
extent  this  poem  is  a  copy  of  Vergilian  thought  and 
diction. 


23 


M.     AURELII     OLYMPII    NEMESIANI 
CYNEGETICA 

Venandi  cano  mille  uias  hilaresque  labores 
discursusque  citos,  securi  proelia  ruris, 
pandimus.     Aonio  iam  nunc  mihi  pectus  ab  oestro 
aestuat:    ingentes  Helicon  iubet  ire  per  agros, 
Castaliusque  mihi  noua  pocula  fontis  alumno  5 

ingerit  et  late  campos  metatus  apertos 
imponitque  iugum  uati  retinetque  corymbis  jj 

implicitum  ducitque  per  auia,  qua  sola  numquam 
trita  rotis.     iuuat  aurato  procedere  curru 
et  parere  deo.     uirides  en  ire  per  herbas  lO 

imperat :   intacto  premimus  uestigia  musco ; 
et,  quamuis  cursus  ostendat  tramite  noto 
obuia  Calliope  faciles,  insistere  prato 
complacitum,  rudibus  qua  luceat  orbita  sulcis, 
nam  quis  non  Nioben  numeroso  funere  maestam     15 
iam  cecinit?    quis  non  Semelen  ignemque  iugalem 
letalemque  simul  nouit  de  paelicis  astu? 
quis  magno  recreata  tacet  cunabula  Baccho, 
ut  pater  omnipotens  maternos  reddere  menses 
dignatus  iusti  complerit  tempora  partus?  20 

sunt  qui  sacrilego  rorantes  sanguine  thyrsos 
(nota  nimis)  dixisse  uelint,  qui  uincula  Dirces 
Pisaeique  tori  legem  Danaique  cruentum 
imperium  sponsasque  truces  sub  foedere  prime 

24 


dulcia  funereis  mut antes  gaudia  taedis.  25 

Biblidos  indictum  nulli  scelus;    impia  Myrrhae 
conubia  et  saeuo  uiolatum  crimine  patrem 
nouimus,  utque  Arabum  fugiens  cuin  carperet  arua. 
iiiit  in  arboreas  frondes  animamque  uirentem. 
siint  qui  squamosi  referant  fera  sibila  Cadmi  30 

stellatnmque  oculis  custodem  uirginis  lus 
Hercnleosque  uelint  semper  numerare  labores 
miratumque  rudes  se  tollere  Terea  pinnas 
post  epulas,  Philomela,  tuas;    sunt  ardua  mundi 
qui  male  temptantem  curru  Phaethonta  loquantur  35 
extinctasque  canant  emisso  fulmine  flammas 
fimiantemque  Padum,  Cycnum  plumamque  senilem 
et  flentes  semper  germani  funere  siluas. 
Tantalidum  casus  et  sparsas  sanguine  mensas 
condentemque  caput  uisis  Titana  Mycenis  40 

horrendasque  uices  generis  dixere  priores. 
Colchidos  iratae  sacris  imbuta  uenenis 
munera  non  canimus  pulchraeque  incendia  Glauces, 
non  crinem  Nisi,  non  saeuae  pocula  Circes, 
nee  nocturna  pie  curantem  busta  sororem :  45 

haec  iam  magnorum  praecepit  copia  uatum, 
omnis  et  antiqui  uulgata  est  fabula  saecli. 
nos  saltus  uiridesque  plagas  camposque  patentes 
scrutamur  totisque  citi  discurrimus  aruis 
et  uarias  cupimus  f acili  cane  sumere  praedas ;  50 

nos  timidos  lepores,  imbelles  figcre  dammas 
audacesque  lupos,  uulpem  captare  dolosam 
gaudemus ;   nos  flumineas  errare  per  umbras 


25 


malumus  ct  placidis  ichneumona  quaerere  ripis 
inter  harundineas  segetes  felemque  minacem  55 

arboris  in  trunco  longis  praefigere  telis 
implicitunique   sinu   spinosi   corporis  erem 
f erre  domum ;  talique  placet  dare  lintea  curae, 
dum  non  magna  ratis,  uicinis  sueta  moueri 
litoribus  tutosque  sinus  percurrere  remis,  60 

nunc  primum  dat  uela  Notis  portusque  fideles 
linquit  et  Hadriacas  audet  temptare  procellas. 
mox  uestros  meliore  lyra  memorare  triumphos 
accingar,  diui  fortissima  pignora  Cari, 
atque  canam  nostrum  geminis  sub  finibus  orbis         65 
litus  et  edomitas  fraterno  numine  gentes, 
quae  Rhenum  Tigrimque  bibunt  Ararisque  remotimi 
principium  Nilique  uident  in  origine  fontem; 
nee  taceam  primum  quae  nuper  bella  sub  Arcto 
felici,  Carine,  manu  confeceris,  ipso  70 

paene  prior  genitore  deo,  utque  intima  f rater 
Persidos  et  ueteres  Babylonos  ceperit  arces, 
ultus  Romulei  uiolata  cacumina  regni; 
imbellemque  fugam  referam  clausasque  pharetras 
Parthorum  laxosque  arcus  et  spicula  muta.  75 

haec  nobis  nostrae  libabunt  carmina  Musae, 
cum  primum  uultus  sacros,  bona  numina  terrae, 
contigerit  uidisse  mihi.     iam  gaudia  uota 
temporis  impatiens  sensus  spretorque  morarum 
praesiunit  uideorque  mihi  iam  cemere  fratrum        80 
augustos  habitus,  Romam  clarumque  senatum 
et  fidos  ad  bella  duces  et  milite  multo 

26 


agmina,  quis  fortes  animat  deuotio  mentes. 
aurea  purpureo  longe  radiantia  uelo 
signa  micant  sinuatque  truces  leuis  aura  dracones.  85 
tu  modo,  quae  saltus  placidos  siluasque  pererras, 
Latonae,  Phoebe,  magnum  decus,  heia  age  suetos 
sume  habitus  arcumque  manu  pictamque  pharetram 
suspende  ex  umeris,  sint  aurea  tela,  sagittae; 
Candida  puniceis  aptentur  crura  cotumis,  90 

sit  chlamys  aurato  multum  subtemine  lusa 
conrugesque  sinus  gemmatis  balteus  artet 
nexibus,  impHcitos  cohibe  diademate  crines. 
tecum  Naiades  faciles  uiridique  iuuenta 
pubentes  Dryades  Nymphaeque,  unde  amnibus 

umor,  95 

adsint  et  docilis  decantet  Oreadas  Echo, 
due  age,  diua,  tuum  frondosa  per  auia  uatem: 
te  sequimur,  tu  pande  domos  et  lustra  ferarum. 
hue  igitur  mecum,  quisquis  percussus  amore 
uenandi  damnas  lites  avidosque  timiultus  100 

ciuilesque  fugis  strepitus  bellique  fragores 
nee  praedas  auido  sectaris  gurgite  ponti. 

Principio  tibi  cura  canum  non  segnis  ab  anno 
incipiat  primo,  cum  lanus,  temporis  auctor, 
pandit  inocciduum  bissenis  mensibus  aeuum.        105 
elige  tunc  cursu  facilcm  facilemque  recursu, 
seu  Lacedaemonio  natam  seu  rure  Molosso, 
non  humili  de  gente  canem.     sit  cruribus  altis, 
sit  rigidis,  multamque  trahat  sub  pectore  lato 
costarum  sub  fine  decenter  prona  carinam,  no 

27 


quae  sensim  rursus  sicca  se  colligat  aluo, 
renibus  ampla  satis  ualidis  diductaque  coxas, 
cuique  nimis  molles  fluitent  in  cursibus  aures. 
huic  parilcm  summitte  marcm,  sic  omnia  magnum, 
dum  superant  uires,  dum  laeto  flore  iuuentas       115 
corporis  et  uenis  primaeuis  sanguis  abundat. 
namque  graues  morbi  subeunt  segnisque  senectus 
inualidamque  dabunt  non  firmo  robore  prolem. 
sed  diuersa  magis  feturae  conuenit  aetas: 
tu  bis  uicenis  plenum  iam  mensibus  acrem  120 

in  uenerem  permitte  marem;    sit  femina,  bines 
quae  tulerit  soles,     haec  optima  cura  iugandi. 
mox  cum  se  bina  formarit  lampade  Phoebe 
ex  quo  passa  marem  genitalia  uiscera  turgent, 
fecundos  aperit  partus  matura  grauedo  125 

continue  largaque  uides  strepere  omnia  prole, 
sed,  quamuis  auidus,  primes  centemnere  partus 
malueris;    mox  non  omnes  nutrire  minores. 
nam  tibi  si  placittmi  pepuleses  pascere  fetus, 
iam  macie  tenues  sucique  uidebis  inanes  130 

pugnantesque  diu,  quisnam  prior  ubera  lambat, 
distrahere  inualidam  lassato  uiscere  matrem. 
sin  uere  haec  cura  est,  melier  ne  forte  necetur 
abdaturue  dome,  catulosque  prebare  ueluntas, 
quis  nendum  gressus  stabiles  neque  lumina  passa  135 
Luciferum  uidere  iubar,  quae  prodidit  usus 
percipe  et  intrepidus  spectatis  annue  dictis. 
pondere  nam  catuli  poteris  perpendere  uires 
cerporibusque  leues  grauibus  praenoscere  cursu. 

28 


quin  et  flammato  ducatur  linea  longe  140 

circmtu  signetque  habilem  uapor  igneus  orbem, 
impime  ut  medio  possis  consistere  circo : 
hue  omnes  eatuli,  hue  indisereta  feratur 
turba :   dabit  mater  partus  examen,  honestos 
iudieio  natos  seruans  trepidosque  perielo.  145 

nam  postquam  eonelusa  uidet  sua  germina  flammis, 
continuo  saltu  transeendens  feruida  zonae 
uincla,  rapit  rietu  primum  portatque  cubiH, 
mox  alium,  mox  deinde  ahum,     sie  conseia  mater 
segregat  egregiam  subolem  uirtutis  amore.  150 

hos  igitur  genetrice  simul  iam  uere  sereno 
moUi  pasce  sero  (passim  nam  lactis  abundans 
tempus  adest,  albent  plenis  et  ouilia  mulctris), 
interdumque  cibo  Cererem  cum  lacte  ministra, 
fortibus  ut  sucis  teneras  complere  medullas         155 
possint  et  ualidas  iam  tunc  promittere  uires. 
sed  postquam  Phoebus  candentem  f eruidus  axem 
contigerit  tardasque  uias  Cancrique  morantis 
sidus  init,  tunc  consuetam  minuisse  saginam 
profuerit  tenuesque  magis  retinere  cibatus,  160 

ne  grauis  articulos  deprauet  pondere  moles, 
nam  turn  membronmi  nexus  nodosque  relaxant 
infirmosque  pedes  et  crura  natantia  ponunt, 
tunc  etiam  niueis  armantur  dentibus  ora. 
sed  neque  conclusos  teneas  neque  uincula  collo    165 
impatiens  circumdederis  noceasque  futuris 
cursibus  imprudens.  catulis  nam  saepe  remotis 
aut  uexare  trabcs,  laceras  aut  mandere  ualuas 

29 


mens  erit,  et  teneros  torquent  conatibus  artus 

obtunduntue  nouos  adroso  robore  dentes  fjO 

aut  teneros  diiris  impingunt  postibus  ungues; 

mox  iam  cum  ualidis  insistere  cruribus  aetas 

passa,  quater  binos  uoluens  ab  origine  menses, 

inlaesis  catulos  spectaueris  undique  membris; 

tunc  rursus  miscere  sero  Cerealia  dona  .  175 

conueniet  fortemque  dari  de  frugibus  escam, 

libera  tunc  primum  consuescant  colla  ligari 

Concordes  et  ferre  gradus  clausique  teneri. 

iam  cum  bis  denos  Phoebe  reparauerit  ortus, 

incipe  non  longo  catulos  producere  cursu,  180 

sed  paruae  uallis  spatio  saeptoue  nouali. 

his  leporem  praemitte  manu,  non  uiribus  acquis 

nee  cursus  uirtute  parem,  sed  tarda  trahentem 

membra,  queant  iam  nunc  faciles  ut  sumere  praedas. 

nee  semel  indulge  catulis  moderamine  cursus,        185 

sed  donee  ualidos  etiam  praeuertere  suescant, 

exerceto  diu,  uenandi  munera  cogens 

discere  et  emeritae  laudem  uirtutis  amare. 

nee  non  consuetae  norint  hortamina  uocis, 

seu  cursus  reuocent,  iubeant  seu  tendere  cursus.     190 

quin  etiam  docti  uictam  contingere  praedam 

exanimare  uelint  tantum,  non  carpere  sumptam. 

sic  tibi  ueloces  catulos  reparare  memento 

semper  et  in  paruos  iterum  protendere  ctiras. 

nam  tristes  morbi,  scabies  et  sordida  uenis  195 

saepe  uenit  multamque  canes  discrimine  nullo 

dant  stragem:   tu  sollicitos  impende  labores 

30 


et  sortire  gregem  stiffecta  prole  quotannis. 

quin  acidos  Bacchi  latices  Tritonide  oliva 

admiscere  decet  catulosque  canesque  maritas        200 

iinguere  profuerit  tepidoque  ostendere  soli, 

auribus  et  tineas  candenti  pellere  cultro. 

est  etiam  canibus  rabies,  letale  periclum. 

quod  seu  caelesti  corrupt o  sidere  manat, 

cum  segnes  radios  tristi  iaculatur  ab  aethra  205 

Phoebus  et  attonito  pallens  caput  exserit  orbe 

seu  magis,  ignicorai  candentia  terga  leonis 

cum  quatit,  hoc  canibus  blandis  inuiscerat  aestus, 

exhalat  seu  terra  sinu,  seu  noxius  aer 

causa  mali,  seu  cum  gelidus  non  sufficit  umor        210 

torrida  per  uenas  concrescunt  semina  flammae: 

quicquid  id  est,  imas  agitat  sub  corde  medullas 

inque  feros  rictus  nigro  spumante  ueneno 

prosilit,  insanos  cogens  infigere  morsus. 

disce  igitur  potus  medicos  curamque  salubrem.      215 

tunc  uirosa  tibi  sumes  multumque  domabis 

castorea,  attritu  silicis  lentescere  cogens; 

ex  ebore  hue  trito  puluis  sectoue  feratur, 

admiscensque  diu  f acies  concrescere  utrumque : 

mox  lactis  liquidos  sensim  superadde  fluores,        220 

ut  non  cunctantes  haustus  infundere  cornu 

inserto  possis  Furiasque  repellere  tristes 

atque  iterum  blandas  canibus  componere  mentes. 

sed  non  Spartanos  tantum  tantumue  Molossos 

pascendum  catulos:   diuisa  Britannia  mittit  225 

ueloces  nostrique  orbis  uenatibus  aptos. 

31 


nee  tibi  Pannonicae  stirpis  temnatur  origo, 
nee  quorum  proles  de  sanguine  manat  Hibero. 
quin  etiam  siccae  Libyes  in  finibus  acres 
gignuntur  eatuli,  quorum  non  spreueris  usum.        230 
quin  et  Tuseorum  non  est  extrema  uoluptas 
saepe  canirni.    sit  forma  illis  licet  obsita  uillo 
dissimilesque  habeant  catulis  uelocibus  artus, 
baud  tamen  iniucunda  dabunt  tibi  munera  praedae, 
namque  et  odorato  noscunt  uestigia  prato  235 

at  que  etiam  leponmi  secreta  cubilia  monstrant. 
horum  animos  moresque  simul  naresque  sagaces 
mox  referam;   nunc  omnis  adhuc  narranda  supellex 
uenandi  cultusque  mihi  dicendus  equorum. 
comipedes  igitur  lectos  det  Graecia  nobis  240 

Cappadocumque  notas  referat  generosa  propago 
*armata  et  palmas  nuper  grex  omnis  auorum. 
illis  ampla  satis  leui  sunt  aequora  dorso 
immodicumque  latus  paruaeque  ingentibus  alui, 
ardua  frons  auresque  agiles  capitisque  decori        245 
altus  honos  oculique  uago  splendore  micantes, 
plurima  se  ualidos  ceruix  resupinat  in  armos, 
fumant  umentes  calida  de  nare  uapores, 
nee  pes  officium  standi  tenet,  ungula  terram 
crebra  ferit  uirtusque  artus  animosa  fatigat.         250 
quin  etiam  gens  ampla  iacet  trans  ardua  Calpes 
culmina,  cornipedum  late  fecunda  proborum. 
namque  ualent  longos  pratis  intendere  cursus, 
nee  minor  est  illis  Graio  quam  in  corpore  forma, 
nee  non  terribiles  spirabile  flumen  anheli  255 


32 


prouoluunt  flatus  et  lumina  uiuida  torquent 
hinnitusque  cient  tremuli  frenisque  repugnant, 
nee  segnes  mulcent  aures,  nee  crure  quiescunt. 
sit  tibi  praeterea  sonipes,  Maurusia  tellus 
quern  mittit  (modo  sit  gentili  sanguine  firnius)      260 
quemque  coloratus  Mazax  deserta  per  arua 
pauit  et  assiduos  docuit  tolerare  labores. 
nee  pigeat,  quod  turpe  caput,  deformis  et  aluus 
est  ollis  quodque  infrenes,  quod  liber  uterque, 
quodque  iubis  pronos  ceruix  deuerberet  armos.       265 
nam  flecti  facilis  lasciuaque  coUa  secutus 
paret  in  obsequium  lentae  moderamine  uirgae: 
uerbera  sunt  praecepta  fugae,  sunt  uerbera  freni. 
quin  et  promissi  spatiosa  per  aequora  campi 
cursibus  adquirunt  commoto  sanguine  uires         270 
paulatimque  auidos  comites  post  terga  relinquunt. 
baud  secus  effusis  Nerei  per  caerula  uentis, 
cum  se  Threicius  Boreas  superextulit  antro 
stridentique  sono  uastas  exterruit  undas, 
omnia  turbato  cesserunt  flamina  ponto;  275 

ipse  super  fluctus  spumanti  murmure  feruens 
conspicuum  pelago  caput  eminet,  omnis  euntem 
Nereidum  mirata  suo  stupet  aequore  turba. 
horum  tarda  uenit  longi  fiducia  cursus, 
his  etiam  emerito  uigor  est  iuuenalis  in  aeuo.        280 
nam  quaccumque  suis  uirtus  bene  floruit  annis, 
non  prius  est  animo  quam  corpore  passa  ruinam. 
pasce  igitur  sub  uere  nouo  farragine  molli 
comipedcs  uenamque  feri  ueteresque  labores 

33 


I 


cffluere  aspecta  nigri  cum  labe  cruoris.  285 

mox  laetae  redeunt  in  pectora  f ortia  uires 

et  nitidos  artus  distento  robore  formant; 

mox  sanguis  ucnis  melior  calet,  ire  uiarum 

longa  uolunt  latumque  fuga  consumere  campum. 

inde  ubi  pubentes  calamos  durauerit  aestas  290 

lactentesque  urens  herbas  siccauerit  omnem 

messibus  umorem  culmosque  armarit  aristis, 

hordea  tum  paleasque  leues  praebere  memento: 

puluere  quin  etiam  puras  secernere  fruges 

cura  sit  atque  toros  manibus  percurrere  equorum,  295 

gaudeat  ut  plausu  sonipes  laetumque  relaxet 

corpus  et  altores  rapiat  per  uiscera  sucos. 

id  curent  famuli  comitumque  animosa  iuuentus. 

nee  non  et  casses  idem  uenatibus  aptos 

atque  plagas  longoque  meantia  retia  tractu  300 

addiscant  raris  semper  contexere  nodis 

et  seruare  modum  maculis  linoque  tenaci. 

linea  quin  etiam,  magnos  circumdare  saltus 

quae  possit  uolucresque  metu  concludere  praedas, 

digerat  innexas  non  una  ex  alite  pinnas.  305 

namque  ursos  magnosque  sues  ceruosque  fugaces 

et  uulpes  acresque  lupos  ceu  fulgura  caeli 

terrificant  Unique  uetant  transcendere  saeptum. 

has  igitur  uario  semper  fucare  ueneno 

curabis  niueisque  alios  miscere  colores  310 

alternosque  metus  subtemine  tendere  longo. 

dat  tibi  pinnarum  terrentia  milia  uultur, 

dat  Libye,  magnarum  auium  fecunda  creatrix, 

34 


dantque  grues  cycnique  senes  et  candidus  anser, 
dant  quae  fluminibus  crassisque  paludibus  errant  315 
pellitosque  pedes  stagnant!  gurgite  tingunt. 
hinc  mage  puniceas  natiuo  munere  sumes: 
namque  illic  sine  fine  greges  florentibus  alis 
inuenies  auiiini  suauique  rubescere  luto 
et  sparsos  passim  tergo  uernare  colores.  320 

his  ita  dispositis  hiemis  sub  tempus  aquosae 
incipe  ueloces  catulos  immittere  pratis, 
incipe  comipedes  latos  agitare  per  agros. 
uenemur  dum  mane  nouiim,  dtim  moUia  prat  a 
noctumis  calcata  feris  uestigia  seruant.  325 


35 


NOTES 

1  f .  The  poet  begins  in  a  lofty  epic  style  recalling  the  arma 
uirumque  cano  of  Vergil.  The  hunting  poem  of  Grattius  begins 
in  a  similar  fashion: 

"dona  cano  diuom,  laetas  uenantibus  artis 
auspicio,  Diana,  tuo." 
HiLARESQUE  LABORES  DiscuRSUSQUE  ciTOs:    the  first  que  con- 
nects the  two  verbs,  the  second  the  two  substantives;   cf.  v.  200. 
For  such  use  of  que — que  see  H.  Christensen,  que — que  bei  den 
romischen  Hexatnetrikern,  Archivf.  lat.  Lexikogr.  1908,  p.  188. 

2.  SECURi  PROELiA  RURis:  the  hunting  of  the  wild  beasts 
was  regarded  as  a  sort  of  warfare.  Grattius  especially  applies  a 
large  number  of  military  terms  to  the  chase.  See  H.  Schenkl, 
Jahrb.  /.  Philol.  Suppl.  Bd.,  1897,  437-8. 

3.  PANDIMUS:  change  from  the  singular  to  the  rhetorical 
plural  is  not  uncommon  (see  Kiihner-Stegmann,  Ausf.  lat.  Gramm. 
2^  p.  88).  AoNio  ....  AB  OESTRo:  with  the  inspiration  of 
the  muses,  oestrus  is  often  used  by  the  poets  of  poetic  frenzy  and 
inspiration.  Cf.  Stat.  Th.  i.  32:  "tempus  erit  cum  Pierio  tua 
fortior  oestro — facta  canam." 

4.  Helicon  :  the  name  of  the  mountain  is  used  for  the  Muses. 
This  passage  is  an  evident  imitation  of  Verg.  G.  3.  291  ff.: 

"sed  me  Pamasi  deserta  per  ardua  dulcis 
raptat  amor;   iuuat  ire  iugis  qua  nulla  priorum 
Castaliam  molli  deuertitur  orbita  cliuo." 

5.  ALUMNO:  this  is  the  reading  of  all  the  manuscripts. 
Ulitius  proposed  as  an  emendation  alumnus;  Pithoeus  suggested 
Castaliique.  As  the  verse  stands  Castalius  must  be  used  abso- 
lutely of  Apollo.     Cf.  Ennod.  Carm.  2.  109.  2: 

"numquam  frugiferis  per  saecula  longa  thyrambis 

in  me  fluxerunt  commoda  Castalii." 
The  use  of  alumno  as  nursling  of  the  Muses  may  be  compared 
with  Auson.  p.  229  (399).  3: 
"Paule,  Camenarum  celeberrime  Castaliarum 

alumne  quondam,  nunc  pater." 

36 


NOUA  pocula:  fresh  draughts  of  inspiration;  cf.  Ov.  Am  i.  15.35: 
"mihi  flauus  Apollo — pocula  Castalia  plena  ministret  aqua." 

6.  METATUS:  this  is  the  reading  of  A,  metatur  of  B-,  C,  and 
the  Aldine  edition.  The  reading  metatur  probably  arose  through 
a  failure  to  understand  the  following  polysyndeton,  imponitque 
.  .  .  retinetque  .  .  .  ducitque.  This,  however,  was  com- 
mon in  the  dactylic  verse  where  que  was  especially  convenient  in 
forming  dactyls;  cf.  Ov.  Met.  14.  61:  "ac  primo  .... 
refugitque  abigitque  timetque"  (see  H.  Christensen,  op.  cit.  p. 
186  ff.). 

7.  iugum:  used  figuratively  of  being  bound  to  the  service  of 
another,  corymbis:  clusters  of  ivy  berries.  The  ivy  was  used 
for  the  crowning  of  Bacchus  and  also  of  poets,  since  Bacchus 
through  his  relation  to  the  drama  was  closely  associated  with  the 
Muses.  Cf.  Prop.  2.  30.  39:  "tum  capiti  sacros  patiar  pendere 
corymbos."  Nemes.  Eel.  3.  18:  "te  cano  qui  grauidis  hederata 
fronte  corymbis — uitea  serta  plicas." 

8  f .      DUCITQUE  PER  AUIA,   QUA   SOLA   NUMQUAM — TRITA   ROTIS: 

of.  Lucr.  I.  926:  "auia  Pieridum  peragro  loca  nuUius  ante — 
trita  solo."  Oppian  likewise  declares  his  Cynegetica  to  be  a  new 
and  untrodden  field,  Cyn.  i.  20. 

9.  AUR.^TO  PROCEDERE  CURRU:  the  poet  thus  pictures  as  a 
triumphal  procession  his  progress  under  the  inspiration  of  the 
Muses.  So  Pindar  speaks  of  being  borne  in  the  chariot  of  the 
Muses;  cf.  Pyth.  10.  loi;  01.  9.  120.  Similarly  Claud.  21.  23: 
"ipsaque  Pierios  lassant  procliuia  currus — laudibus  innumeris." 

10  f.  en:  frequently  used  of  the  appearance  of  a  divinity; 
cf.  Ov.  Met.  15.  677:  "et  Deus  en;  deus  en!  animis  linguisque 
fauete."  Hor.  S.  i.  i.  15:  "si  quis  deus 'en  ego'  dicat— iam 
faciam  quod  uoltis."  ire  .  .  .  imperat:  impero  occurs 
occasionally  in  the  poets  with  the  passive  infinitive,  more  rarely 
with  the  active  (see  Drager,  Historische  Syntax,  2,  409-10). 

II.     INTACTO     .     .     .     Musco:     cf.  Prop.  3.  3.  25: 
"dixerat  et  plectro  sedem  mihi  monstrat  ebunio 
qua  noua  muscoso  semita  facta  solo  est." 
Hor.  Ep.  I.  19.  21: 

"libera  per  uacuom  posui  vestigia  princeps 
non  aliena  meo  pressi  pede." 

37 


12  ff.  Verse  12  is  found  in  the  MSS.  after  verse  24.  Pithoeus' 
transposition  of  it  to  this  place  has  met  with  general  approval. 
But  the  passage  still  presents  difficulties.  The  Aldine  and  other 
early  editions  read  se  ostendat  instead  of  the  ostendat  of  the  MSS., 
fades  instead  of  faciles  and  retain  the  complacito  of  the  M  SS.  in 
V.  14.  oftttia  Ca//io/)e  is  then  interpreted  as  a  vocative :  "quamuis 
nota  aliqua  uia,  et  trita  materia  ofiferat  se  tu  tamen  obuia  et 
auxilians  Calliope,  fac  me  insistere  prato  complacito,  ut  in  hoc 
etiam  semita  facta  appareat,"  (Wemsdorf).  Baehrens  follows 
the  conjecture  of  Pithoeus  by  reading  facilest  for  faciles  and  also 
non  placito  for  complacito.  The  happiest  solution  of  the  difficul- 
ties of  the  passage  is  offered  by  Schenkl's  conjecture  of  cotnplaci- 
tum  for  complacito:  although  Calliope  in  person  shows  me  an  easy 
course  in  the  beaten  path,  it  has  pleased  me  to  set  foot  in  a  meadow 
where  glistens  a  road  with  freshly-made  furrows,  complacilus  as  the 
perfect  participle  of  complaceo  with  active  force  is  well  attested 
(see  Neue-Wagener,  Formenlehre,  3.  p.  117). 

14.  QUA  luceat:  a  descriptive  adverbial  clause,  rudibus 
.  .  .  .  suLCis:  rough  in  the  sense  of  newly-made  or  untried; 
cf.  rudes  .  .  .  pinnas,  v.  33.  The  same  epithet  is  applied  to 
the  Argo  as  the  first  ship  launched  on  the  sea;  cf.  Lucan  3.  193; 
Prop.  3.  22.  13. 

15-47.  The  poet  tells  us  why  he  has  chosen  a  new  field.  All 
mythological  subjects  are  trite  and  worn.  But  in  passing  he 
takes  occasion  to  heap  up  a  number  of  brief,  recondite  mythologi- 
cal references  in  a  style  which  is  similar  to  that  of  Propertius. 

16  f.  IGNEMQUE  lUGALEM  letalemque:  the  marital  fire  which 
destroyed  her.  Cf.Ov.  Met.  3.308:  "corpus  mortale  tumultus — 
non  tulit  aetherios,  donisque  iugalibus  arsit." 

17.  DE  PAELicis  astu:  the  use  of  de  was  much  extended  in 
the  African  Latinity  and  acquired  instrumental  force  (see  Sittl, 
Lokale  Verschiedenheiten  der  lateinischen  Sprache,  p.  126).  Cf. 
Nemes.  Eel.  3.  64:  "et  de  uitibus  hastas  integit."  Eel.  2.  11: 
"quod  non  tarn  tenui  filo  de  uoce  sonaret."  paelex  evidently 
refers  to  Juno  because  of  her  jealousy.  Disguised  as  Semele's 
nurse  she  had  aroused  her  suspicion  of  Zeus  and  caused  her  to 
make  the  fatal  request  to  behold  Zeus  in  his  majesty.  The  same 
term  is  applied  to  Juno  in  the  Laudes  Herculis  which  Wemsdorf 
attributes  to  Nemesianus  (v.  47). 

38 


1 8.     When    Semele   perished   by   the   thunderbolt    of    Zeus, 
Bacchus  was  prematurely  bom.     Zeus  saved  the  child  by  cutting 
open  his  own  thigh  and  concealing  the  infant  there  until  the  full 
time  for  his  birth  had  come.     Cf.  Ov.  Met.  3.  317:     "tutaque  bis 
geniti  sunt  incunabula  Bacchi." 
19  f.     Cf.  Nemes.  Eel.  3.  23: 
"hunc  pater  omnipotens,  uenturi  prouidus  aeui 
pertulit  et  justo  produxit  tempore  partus." 
Stat.  Th.  7.  166:     "cui  tu  dignatus  limina  vitae 
praereptumque  uterum  et  matemos  reddere  menses." 

21.  The  reference  is  to  the  death  of  Pfentheus.  The  thyrsi 
were  used  by  the  Bacchantes  in  killing  Pentheus.  Manitius 
(Rhein.  Mus.  44.  543)  notes  that  this  verse  is  an  imitation  of  Val. 
Flac.  5.  76:    "abluit  eoo  rorantes  sanguine  thyrsos." 

22.  dixisse:  the  perfect  infinitive  where  we  expect  the  pres- 
ent, as  frequently  with  nolo.  It  is  perhaps  aoristic  in  force  (see 
Bennett,  Syntax  of  Early  Latin,  i,  p.  427). 

23.  PiSAEiQUE  TORI  legem:  the  law  by  which  the  suitors  of 
Hippodamia  were  compelled  to  contend  in  a  chariot  race  with  her 
father,  Oenomaus,  King  of  Pisa,  and  by  which  those  who  were 
defeated  suffered  death.  Pelops  by  bribing  Myrtilus,  the 
charioteer  of  Oenomaus,  won  the  race  and  the  hand  of  Hippo- 
damia (cf.  Hygin.  Fab.  84).  Statins  uses  the  same  term  as 
Nemesianus  in  regard  to  the  conditions  for  winning  Hippodamia, 
Silv.  I.  2.  41: 

"hanc  propter  tanti  Pisaea  lege  trementem 
currere  et  Oenomai  fremitus  audire  sequentis." 

24.  SUB  FOEDERE  PR  I  MO:  at  the  beginning  of  their  marriage 
(^ompact.     For  sub  with  temporal  force  cf.  sub  uere  nouo  v.  283. 

26.  The  guilty  love  of  Biblis  for  her  brother,  Caunus,  forced 
him  to  flee  from  his  home.  Biblis  hung  herself  and  from  her 
tears  arose  the  fountain  Biblis  (cf.  Ov.  Met.  9.  454  fT.). 

26  f.  IMPIA  Myrrhae  conubia:  Myrrha  by  means  of  trickery 
was  guilty  of  an  incestuous  union  with  her  father,  Cinyras.  In 
anger  he  attempted  to  kill  her  but  she  fled  into  Arabia  where  she 
was  changed  into  a  myrrh  tree  (cf.  Ov.  Met.  10.  298  ff.). 

29.     luiT  IN  akboreas  frondes:     cf.  Ov.  Met.  10.  493: 
"sanguis  it  in  sucos,  in  magnos  bracchia  ramos 
in  paruos  digiti;    duratur  cortice  pellis." 

39 


Prop.  3.  19.  15: 

"crimen  et  ilia  fuit,  patria  succensa  senecta 
arboris  in  frondes  condita  Myrrha  nouae." 

iuit:  the  indicative  in  indirect  questions  is  not  rare  in  poets 
of  the  post-classical  age  (seeKuhner-Stcgmann,  Ausf.  lat.  Gramm. 
2*,  p.  494).  ANIMAMQUE  uiRENTEM:  a  leafy  spirit,  i.e.  she 
became  a  tree  nymph;  cf.  v.  94,  "uiridique  iuuenta  pubentes 
Dryades." 

30.  Cadmus,  founder  of  Thebes,  slew  the  dragon  of  Ares  and, 
in  punishment  for  this,  he  and  his  wife  Harmonia  were  later 
changed  into  dragons.  Cf.  Ov.  Met.  4.  577:  "durataeque  cuti 
squamas  increscere  sentit,"  588:  "quotiensque  aliquos  parat 
edere  questus — sibilat." 

31.  STELLATUMQUE  OCULIS  CUSTODEM:      cf.   Ov.   Met.    I.   664: 

"talia  maerentes  stellatus  submouet  Argus."  Stat.  Th.  6.  255: 
"inocciduis  stellatum  uisibus  Argum."  Aeschylus  applies  to 
Argus  the  epithets  fivpiwTrdi  (Prom.  569)and7ra»'67rr7jj  (Supp.  304). 

33.  SE  TOLLERE  Terea:  This  is  the  reading  of  C  and  of  the 
Aldine  edition.  The  readings  of  A  and  B  are  confused,  ad  aera 
instead  of  Terea  is  the  reading  of  Baehrens  who  preferred  the 
periphrasis,  rudi  se  tollere  Terea  penna  is  the  conjecture  of 
Heinsius.  There  is  no  reason  for  departing  from  the  reading  of  C : 
Tereus  who  marvelled  that  the  new  wings  bore  him  aloft. 

37.     fumantemque  Padum:     because  of  the  smoking  body  of 
Phaethon  plunged  into  the  waters;   cf.  Ov.  Met.  2.  323: 
"quern  procul  a  patria  diuerso  maximus  orbe 

excepit  Eridanus  fumantiaque  abluit  ora." 
Cf.  ApoUon.  Rhod.  4.  597:    •^   5'«ti  v\jv  irep — rpaiJ/uaroi  aidonivoio 
Papiiv  ivaKrjKlti  &Tp.6v. 

Cycnum  plumamque  senilem:  hendiadys.  Cycnus  was  a 
relative  and  devoted  friend  of  Phaethon.  While  lamenting  his 
death  on  the  banks  of  the  Eridanus  he  was  changed  into  a  swan 
(cf.  Ov.  Met.  2.  367  ff.).  plumamque  senilem:  the  hoary 
feathers;  senilem  is  used  because  of  the  resemblance  of  the  white 
feathers  of  a  swan  to  the  white  hairs  of  old  age;  cf.  Ov.  Met.  2. 
373:  "canaeque  capillos  dissimulant  plumae."  Verg.  A.  10. 
192:  "canentem  moUi  pluma  duxisse  senectam."  In  verse  314 
Nemesianus  applies  to  the  swans  the  epithet  senes. 

40 


38.  The  Heliades,  sisters  of  Phaethon,  were  changed  into 
poplar  trees  while  mourning  over  his  death.  Their  tears  con- 
tinued to  flow  forth  from  the  bark  as  amber,  so  they  are  said  to 
be  ever  weeping;  cf.  ApoUon.  Rhod.  4.  603:  ix  di  (paeivas — riX^Krpov 
X(/3(i5as  pXetpdpuv  irpox^ovffi  epofe. 

40.  TiTANA:  =  solem.  According  to  the  Roman  poets  the 
sun  turned  back  its  course  at  sight  of  the  dreadful  meal  of  Thyes- 
tes;  cf.  Sen.  Thyest.  1035:  "hoc  est  deos  quod  puduit,  hoc  egit 
diem — auersum  in  ortus."  Luc.  i.  543:  "qualem  fugiente  per 
ortus — sole  Thyesteae  noctem  duxere  Mycenae." 

43.  INCENDIA  Glauces:  ingetitia  is  the  reading  of  all  the 
MSS.     incendia  is  the  conjecture  of  Pithoeus. 

44.  CRINEM  Nisi:  Nisus,  King  of  Megara,  had  a  purple  lock 
of  hair  upon  which  his  life  depended.  When  Minos,  King  of 
Crete,  was  besieging  the  city,  Scylla,  daughter  of  Nisus,  falling  in 
love  with  Minos,  pulled  out  the  purple  lock  from  her  father's  head 
and  betrayed  the  city. 

45.  sororem:  Antigone,  curantem  is  the  reading  of  A  and 
is  preferable  to  the  furantem  of  C  and  of  the  Aldine  edition. 
NOCTURN.A.     ....     busta:     the  burial  by  night. 

47.  Vergil  begins  the  third  Georgic  in  a  similar  strain,  3: 
"cetera  quae  uacuas  tenuissent  carmina  mentes — omnia  iam 
uolgata";  so  also  Manilius,  in  essaying  a  new  field,  recounts  the 
time-worn  themes  of  mythology  and  concludes,  3.  29:  "speciosis 
condere  rebus — carmina,  uulgatum  est  opus  et  componere  sim- 
plex." 

48-62.  The  poet  sets  forth  the  pleasures  of  the  chase  as  the 
new  theme  of  which  he  will  sing. 

49.  TOTISQUECITI  DiscuRRiMUS  ARUIS:  xepeaXs  the  discursus- 
que  citos  of  v.  2.  Similar  also  is  the  phrase  totis  discurrere  siluis 
which  occurs  in  Nemes.  Eel.  4.  6. 

50.  FACiLi  cane:  Grattius  applies  the  epithet /aci7c5  to  the 
Lycaonian  dogs  with  the  meaning  of  tractable,  159: 

"sunt  qui  Seras  alant,  genus  intractabilis  irae, 
at  contra  faciles  magnique  Lycaoncs  armis." 
Yet  in  this  passage /acx7t  probably  has  the  force  of  agile  or  swijt. 
It  is  used  thus  of  the  quick  glance  of  the  eyes,  Verg.  A.  8.  310: 
"miratur  facilisque  oculosfcrt omnia  circum — Aeneas."     Juvenal 
applies  the  same  term  to  the  swift  racehorse,  8.  57:     "nempe 

41 


uolucrem — sic   laudanius    equum,    facili    cui    plurima   palma — 
feruet." 

51.     Cf.  Vcrg.  G.  I.  308:     "auritosquc  scqui  lepores  turn  figere 
dammas." 

53.  flumineas  .  .  .  per  umbras:  through  the  shade  by  the 
river's  bank;  cf.  State.  Th.  9.  266:  "flumineam  rapiente  uado 
puer  Argipus  ulmum — prenderat." 

54.  ICHNEUMONA:  thc  ichneumon  {Ixve^f'-i^'',  the  tracker)  is  a 
small  weasel-shaped  mammal,  native  of  northern  Africa,  which 
feeds  to  a  large  extent  upon  reptiles  and  the  eggs  of  the  crocodile. 
According  to  Pliny  (N.  H.  8.  24,  25)  and  Oppian  (Cyn.  3.  407) 
the  ichneumon  was  the  especial  enemy  of  snakes  and  crocodiles. 
By  rolling  itself  first  in  the  mud,  it  was  so  protected  that  it  could 
attack  the  snakes  and  kill  them.  It  overcame  the  crocodiles  by 
watching  until  one  was  asleep  with  jaws  open,  then  rushing  down 
his  throat  and  devouring  his  vitals.  Such  stories  are  probably 
due  to  the  great  agility  and  dexterity  of  the  ichneumon  in  killing 
snakes  and  vermin,  placiuis  .  .  .  ripis:  suggests  the 
sluggish  waters  of  the  Nile;  cf.  Stat.  Th.  3.  527,  placidi  dementia 
Nili. 

55.  INTER  HARUNDINEAS  SEGETEs:  amidst  the  thicket  of  reeds. 
FELEMQUE  MINACEM:  evidently  refers  to  a  wild  cat  of  some  sort. 
The  marten,  weasel,  and  polecat,  all  belonging  to  the  same  group 
of  carnivorous  mammals,  were  not  clearly  distinguished  in  anti- 
quity (see  Hehn,  Kulturpflanzen  und  Haustiere,^  p.  449).  The 
mustela  corresponds  to  the  weasel,  thc  meles  to  the  marten  or 
badger.  The  characteristics  of  the  feles  seem  to  be  those  of  this 
same  group  of  animals.  It  is  described  by  Varro  (R.  R.  3.  11)  and 
Columella  (8.  14)  as  a  robber  of  poultry.  Pliny's  description 
(N.  H.  ID.  73.  94)  of  the  stealthy  manner  with  which  it  approaches 
mice  and  birds  and  then  suddenly  darts  upon  them,  might  suit  a 
domestic  cat  but  nowhere  does  Pliny  represent  it  as  the  tame 
companion  of  man.  By  his  epithet  minacem,  Nemesianus  indi- 
cates that  it  is  a  dangerous  wild  beast. 

56.  LONGis  PRAEFiGERE  TELis:  this  is  the  reading  of  Cand 
the  Vulgate;  profigeret  of  A.  perfigere,  the  conjecture  of  Johnson, 
is  adopted  by  Postgate.  But  perfigere  occurs  only  in  Lucretius 
and  there  usually  in  the  perfect  participle  perfixus.  praefigere 
is  explained  by  Wernsdorf  as,  "aduerso  in  capite  uel  fronte  figere." 

42 


Stem  explains  as,  "felemque  minacem  icto  telo  in  trunco  arboris 
aflfigere."  This  interpretation,  to  pin  the  threatening  cat  on  the 
trunk  of  the  tree  with  the  long  weapons,  might  be  supported  by 
Manil.  4.     180: 

"hoc  habet  hie  studium,  postes  omare  superbos 
pellibus,  et  captas  domibus  praefigere  praedas." 
Yet  praefigere  occurs  in  Tibullus  (i .  6.  49)  with  the  simple  meaning 
to   pierce:     "statque  latus   praefixa   ueru,   stat  saucia  pectus." 
Hence  it  seems  best  to  keep  the  reading  of  the  MSS.,  praefigere, 
and  to  interpret  it  as  transfix  or  pierce. 

57.  erem:  the  hedgehog,  erinaceus,  ericius  {x^p)  are  other 
forms  of  the  name,  implicitumque  sinu  spinosi  corporis:  at 
the  approach  of  danger  the  hedgehog  rolls  itself  into  a  ball  from 
which  the  spines  stand  out  in  every  direction;  cf.  Pliny,  N.  H.  8. 
37.  56:  "ubi  uero  sensere  uenantem  contracto  et  ore  pedibusque 
ac  parte  omni  inf  eriore,  qua  raram  et  innocuam  habent  lanuginem, 
conuoluuntur  in  formam  pilae,  ne  quid  comprehendi  possit 
praeter  aculeos."     Cf.  also  Oppian,  Cyn.  2.  598  ff. 

58.  For  such  a  work  it  pleases  me  to  spread  my  sails.  The 
metaphor,  which  is  amplified  in  the  following  lines,  is  a  common 
one  for  poets;  cf.  Hor.  C.  4.  15.  3:  "ne  parua  Tyrrhenum  per 
aequor — uela  darem."  curae  which  slightly  confuses  the  meta- 
phor here  was  changed  by  Heinsius  to  cymbae,  by  Baehrens  to 
cursu  (=  ciu-sui). 

59  f.  These  lines  imply  previous  literary  efforts  on  more 
ordinary  themes  than  Cynegetica.  Cf.  Stat.  Silv.  4.  4.  99: 
"fluctus  an  sueta  minores — nosse  ratis  nondum  loniis  credenda 
periclis?"  MOUERi:  passive  used  as  reflexive  (see  Blase,  Genera 
Verbi,  299;    Bennett,  Syntax  of  Early  Latin,  1.6). 

61  f.     Strikingly  similar  to  this  passage,  in  thought  and  expres- 
sion, is  the  preface  to  the  Raptus  Proserpinae  of  Claudian,  5  ft. : 
"tranquillis  primum  trepidus  se  credidit  undis 

litora  securo  tramite  summa  legens; 

mox  longos  temptare  sinus  et  linquere  terras 

et  leni  coepit  pandere  uela  Noto. 

Ast  ubi  paulatim  praeceps  audacia  creuit 

cordaque  langucntem  dedidicere  mctum 

iam  uagus  inrumpit  pclagus  caelumque  secutus 

Aegacas  hiemcs  loniumque  domat." 

43 


63-85.  Dedication  of  the  poem  to  the  sons  of  Carus,  Numerian 
and  Carinus.  Carus  was  emperor  from  Aug.,  282  A.  D.  to  Dec. 
25,  283  A.D.  He  planned  an  expedition  against  the  Persians 
and  before  his  departure  conferred  on  his  two  sons,  Carinus  and 
Numerian,  the  title  of  Caesar.  Numerian  accompanied  him  on 
the  expedition.  Carinus  was  made  ruler  over  the  western  pro- 
vinces and  was  charged  with  a  campaign  to  the  North  for  pro- 
tecting Gaul.  Carus'  expedition  against  the  Persians  was  success- 
ful and  he  had  carried  his  victories  beyond  the  Tigris  when  he  died 
suddenly  and  mysteriously.  His  death  was  attributed  to  light- 
ning, and  the  superstitious  soldiers,  terrified  by  such  an  omen, 
forced  Numerian  to  lead  them  in  retreat  instead  of  continuing  his 
father's  victories.  On  this  retreat  Numerian  was  forced  to  keep 
in  seclusion  because  of  a  weakness  of  his  eyes  but  his  commands 
were  delivered  by  Arrius  Aper,  his  Praetorian  Praefect  and  father- 
in-law.  The  soldiers  finally  became  suspicious  and  broke  into 
the  imperial  tent  where  they  found  the  corpse  of  Numerian. 
Diocletian  was  proclaimed  emperor  and  immediately  killed 
Arrius  Aper,  Sept.  17,  284  A.D.  Upon  the  return  of  the  Eastern 
troops  a  struggle  followed  between  Diocletian  and  Carinus  for 
possession  of  the  empire.  Carinus  was  killed  by  one  of  his 
soldiers,  whose  wife  he  had  seduced,  and  the  struggle  was  thus 
brought  to  an  end,  285  A.D.  (See  Flav.  Vop.  in  the  Hist.  August. 
30;   Eutrop.  9.  18,  19,  20;  Aur.  Vict.  Caes.  38,  39.) 

63.  Cf.  Verg.  G.  3.  46:  "mox  tamen  ardentis  accingar  dicere 
pugnas — Caesaris." 

64.  Diui  FORTissiMA  piGNORA  Cari:  the  dedication  to  the 
sons  of  Carus  would  imply  that  he  was  then  dead  as  well  as  the 
title  diuus  Carus.  diuus  was  the  regular  appellation  of  the 
deceased  emperors  after  their  deification  by  the  senate.  From, 
the  testimony  of  coins,  Carus  was  among  the  Diui  Imperatores 
of  the  third  century  (see  Eckhel,  Doctrina  numorum  ueterum, 
8.  463). 

65.  During  the  third  century  the  Roman  empire  had  been 
threatened  from  every  direction.  The  barbarians,  Franks  and 
Goths,  had  poured  in  from  the  North,  the  Parthians  had  overrun 
the  eastern  provinces.  Probus,  the  predecessor  of  Carus,  checked 
the  invasions  of  the  northern  barbarians,  suppressed  the  rebellions 
in  Egypt  (Vop.  28.  17.  4),  and  restored  peace  to  the  Roman 
world.     Carus  secured  the  safety  of    lUyricum  by  a  crushing 

44 


defeat  of  the  Sarmatians  and  restored  the  eastern  frontier  by  his 
expedition  against  the  Persians.  In  view  of  these  recent  achieve- 
ments Nemesianus  might  well  be  inspired  to  sing  of  the  shores  that 
are  ours  at  both  limits  of  the  earth.  That  he  attributes  such 
achievements,  however,  to  Numerian  and  Carinus  must  be 
regarded  as  flattery  and  poetical  exaggeration. 

66.  FRATERNO  NUMINE:  by  the  divine  might  of  the  brothers, 
numen  is  used  in  speaking  of  an  emperor  as  if  he  were  a  divinity 
(cf.  V.  77,  bona  numina  terrae);  so  also  of  the  exercise  of  his  divine 
will  or  power.  This  use  of  numen  is  noticeable  in  the  Eclogues  of 
Calpumius;  cf.  4,  132:  "numine  Caesareo  securior  ipse  Lycaeus 
— Pan  recolit  siluas." 

67  f.  The  poet  names  these  four  rivers  as  representing  in 
general  the  extent  of  the  empire  in  each  direction,  the  Rhine  in  the 
north,  the  Nile  in  the  south,  the  Arar  (modern  Saone)  in  the  west 
and  the  Tigris  in  the  east,  quae  Rhenum  Tigrimque  bibunt: 
this  is  a  common  poetical  expression  to  designate  the  dwellers  by 
a  certain  river;  cf.  Stat.  Th.  i.  686;  Hor.  C.  4.  15.  21 ;  Verg.  A.  7. 
715- 

68.  uident:  the  reading  of  all  the  MSS.  is  bibunt.  This 
must  have  arisen  from  confusion  with  the  bibunt  of  the  preceding 
verse  for  no  poet  could  have  tolerated  such  a  repetition,  uident, 
the  conjecture  of  Johnson,  involves  little  departure  from  the 
letters  of  the  MSS.  and  suits  well  the  context  of  the  passage. 
So  we  find  in  Luc.  10.  191:  "spes  sit  mihi  certa  uidendi — 
Niliacos  fontes."  The  source  of  the  Nile  was  a  perpetual  mystery 
to  the  Romans.     Lucan  says  of  it  (10.  295): 

"arcanum  natura  caput  non  prodidit  ulli 

nee  licuit  populis  paruum  te,  Nile,  uidere, 

amouitque  sinus  et  gentes  maluit  ortus 

mirari,  quam  nosse  tuos." 
Under  Nero  an  exploring  party  was  sent  which  ascended  the  Nile 
far  above  Syene  (see  Pliny  N.  H.  6.  29.  35;  Sen.  Q.  N.  6.  8). 
Lucan  gives  a  long  account  of  various  theories  as  to  the  sources  of 
the  river  and  of  the  expeditions  which  had  been  made  in  an 
attempt  to  discover  where  it  took  its  rise  (10.  1S9-331). 

69.  taceam  :  there  is  no  need  to  assume  with  Wcrnsdorf  that 
taceam  for  tacebo  is  due  to  a  confusion  of  the  futures  of  second  and 
third  conjugations,  taceam  is  rather  a  subjunctive  of  determined 
resolution.     This  subjunctive  is  recognized  in  early  Latin  (see 

45 


Bennett,  Syntax  of  Early  Latin,  i.  i6i).  Cf.  Plaut.  Bacch.  1058, 
taceam.  Here  we  may  regard  taceam  as  one  of  the  archaic  forms 
surviving  in  African  Latinity  (see  Wolfflin,  Archiv  f.  lat.  Lexikogr. 
7.  470-471)  or  we  may  consider  it  a  purely  archaistic  use  (see 
KroU,  Das  afrikanische  Latein,  Rhein.  Mus.  52.  575-6).  primum: 
Baehrens  reads  prima  Umiting  Arcto  and  compares  the  phrase 
in  prima  oriente,  De  Aue  Phoenice,  v.  i .  It  is  difficult  to  see  how 
such  a  change  improves  the  text  in  any  way.  First  of  all  the 
victories  of  the  two  brothers  the  poet  will  celebrate  that  of 
Carinus  over  the  northern  tribes.  To  what  wars  Nemesianus 
thus  refers  is  doubtful.  Fr.  Bianchi  has  attempted  to  solve  this 
problem,  De  fide  hislorica  in  Carini  el  Numeriani  rebus  gestis 
enarrandis  Nemesiano  poeta  tribuenda,  pp.  16-19.  From  the  words 
of  Vopiscus  in  the  life  of  Carinus,  "contra  Diocletianum  multis 
proeliis  conflixit,  sed  ultimum  pugna  apud  Marcum  commissa 
uictus  occubuit,"  Bianchi  supposes  that  it  must  be  some  success- 
ful battles  against  Diocletian  to  which  the  poet  refers.  From  the 
location  of  Margum,  where  the  final  battle  was  fought,  he  con- 
cludes that  the  region  which  the  poet  designates  by  the  phrase 
sub  Arcto  is  Dacia.  The  fallacy  of  this  theory  is  at  once  obvious. 
How  could  Nemesianus  have  known  that  Carinus  had  been  suc- 
cessful in  some  battles  against  Diocletian  and  yet  not  have  known 
of  the  death  of  Numerian?  It  is  evident  from  the  poet's  words 
that  he  has  no  knowledge  of  the  death  of  Numerian.  It  is  then 
the  height  of  absurdity  to  suppose  that  by  these  wars  he  refers  to 
the  struggle  of  Carinus  against  Diocletian.  When  Carus  departed 
on  his  expedition  against  Persia,  he  intrusted  to  Carinus  a  cam- 
paign in  the  North  for  the  purpose  of  protecting  Gaul.  Flavius 
Vopiscus  (30.  7)  says:  "ita  quidem  ut  Carinum  ad  Gallias  tuen- 
das  cum  uiris  lectissimis  destinaret."  Carinus  was  probably  sent 
to  Gaul  in  order  to  fortify  it  against  the  invasions  of  the  northern 
barbarians.  During  the  reign  of  Probus,  the  Germans,  who  had 
been  ravaging  Gaul,  were  driven  back  successfully  but  some  new 
trouble  may  have  arisen.  We  know  from  inscriptions  that 
Carinus  had  the  title  of  Germanicus  Maximus  (C.  I.  L.  8.  2717; 
7002).  Hence  it  may  be  a  victory  over  the  barbarians  of  Ger- 
many which  the  poet  will  celebrate.  It  is  not  unusual  for  the  poet 
to  designate  this  region  by  the  phrase  sub  Arcto.  Lucan  (3.  89) 
speaks  of  the  Gallic  wars  of  Caesar  as  Arctoi  belli.  Baehrens 
would  interpret  sub  Arcto  as  referring  to  Sarmatia  and  it  is  possi- 
ble that  Carinus  continued  his  father's  war  against  the  Sarmatians 

46 


although  Carus  had  administered  to  them  an  overwhelming 
defeat  before  his  departure  to  Persia  (see  v.  65,  note).  At  any 
rate  we  may  infer  from  the  words  of  Nemesianus  that  Carinus 
had  won  some  degree  of  glory  in  a  campaign  against  some  of  the 
northern  barbarians. 

71.  PRIOR:  superior  to  as  Hor.  C.  4.  10.  4:  "color  est  puni- 
ceae  flore  prior  rosae."     genitore  deo:     see  v.  64,  note. 

71  f.  In  regard  to  the  historical  accuracy  of  this  statement  of 
Nemesianus,  we  may  say  that  it  is  true  of  the  father  Carus  but  not 
so  of  Numerian.  Cams  had  penetrated  Persia  far  enough  to  take 
the  two  great  cities  of  Seleucia  and  Ctesiphon  (Eutrop.  q.  18). 
Of  these  cities  Nemesianus  could  well  speak  as  the  heart  of  the 
Persian  Kingdom.  Upon  the  rise  of  the  Parthian  empire  under 
the  dynasty  of  the  Arsacidae,  Seleucia  had  become  the  royal 
residence.  Later  the  ruin  of  Seleucia  was  brought  about  by  the 
sacking  of  the  city  by  the  Romans  (A.D.  165)  and  Ctesiphon 
succeeded  to  Babylon  and  Seleucia  as  one  of  the  great  capitals  of 
the  East.  Since  Numerian  accompanied  Carus  on  this  expedi- 
tion, it  may  be  due  to  this  fact  that  Nemesianus  attributes  to  him 
the  glory  of  taking  the  heart  of  Persia.  The  Roman  public 
naturally  expected  that  Numerian  would  lead  the  army  on  and 
continue  his  father's  victories  and  these  verses  may  have  been 
written  by  Nemesianus  before  the  final  result  of  the  eastern 
campaign  was  known. 

72.  ueteres  Babylonos  ....  ARCEs:  Babylon  had 
been  one  of  the  old  capitals  of  the  Persian  empire.  Xenophon 
tells  us  that  Cyrus  the  Great  spent  the  summer  at  Ecbatana,  the 
spring  at  Susa,  and  the  remainder  of  the  year  at  Babylon  (Cyrop' 
8.  6.  22).  After  the  founding  of  Seleucia  by  Sclcucus  Nicator' 
Babylon  ceased  to  be  a  great  city  but  continued  for  many  cen- 
turies to  exist.  Strabo,  writing  in  the  reign  of  Augustus,  describes 
Babylon  as  practically  a  desert  (16.  738).  Certainly  in  the  time 
of  Nemesianus  there  could  have  been  little  left  of  this  once  mighty 
city.  Since  it  was  but  forty  miles  distant  from  Seleucia  and  since 
Seleucia  had  succeeded  it  as  capitol,  the  two  cities  were  somewhat 
confused  by  later  writers.  So  Lucan  speaks  of  the  trophies  of 
Crassus  as  adorning  Babylon  when  he  means  Seleucia  (i.  10). 
Nemesianus  evidently  has  reference  to  the  victory  of  Carus  but 
prefers  to  designate  the  captured  region  by  naming  the  ancient 
citadel  of  Babylon  as  lending  more  glory  to  the  achievement. 

47 


73-  cacumina:  interpreted  by  Burmann  as  referring  to  the 
emperors,  by  Wernsdorf  as  of  the  majesty  of  the  Roman  empire 
violated  by  the  invasions  of  the  Parthians.  cacumen  is  used 
figuratively  of  the  highest  point  in  any  development  (e.  g.  Lucr.  5. 
1457).  It  is  doubtful  what  the  poet  means  by  the  heights  of  the 
kingdom  of  Romulus,  unless  by  this  figure  he  wishes  to  indicate  the 
height  of  majesty  to  which  the  empire  had  attained. 

74  f .  Refers  to  the  Persian  campaign  of  Carus  and  Numerian. 
The  Parthians  had  been  for  a  long  time  one  of  the  most  formidable 
enemies  of  the  Romans  but  they  no  longer  held  the  rule  in  Persia. 
Artaxerxes  I  had  put  an  end  to  the  Parthian  house  of  Arsaces  in 
226  A.D.  Subsequent  to  this  time  there  is  constant  confusion  in 
ancient  authors  between  Persians  and  Parthians.  imbellemque 
fugam:  an  actual  rout  of  the  Parthians  is  meant  and  not  the 
maneuver  by  which  they  pretended  flight  and  then,  turning,  shot 
their  arrows  at  their  pursuers,  although  this  formed  a  favorite 
theme  for  the  Romans  in  connection  with  the  Parthians;  cf. 
Verg.  G.  3.  31 :  "fidentemque  fuga  Parthum  uersisque  sagittis." 
Wernsdorf  saw  in  the  adjective  imbellem  a  reference  to  this  pro- 
cedure of  the  Parthians,  i.  e.  an  unwarlike  flight  was  unlike  their 
usual  pretended  flight.  But  this  is  too  subtle.  The  adjective 
imbellis  forms  a  natural  epithet  to  combine  with  fuga.  CLAUSAS- 
QUE  PHARETRAS  Parthokum  laxosque  arcus:  Gronovius 
thought  this  passage  an  imitation  of  Stat.  Silv.  4.  4.  30:  "et 
sontes  operit  pharetras  arcumque  retendit — Parthus."  But  the 
Scythians  and  Parthians  were  the  most  renowned  of  any  people 
for  their  archery  and  such  expressions  are  not  unusual ;  cf .  Hor. 
C.  3.  8.  23 :  "iam  Scythae  laxo  meditantur  arcu — cedere  campis." 
75.  SPICULA  muta:  the  reading  of  the  MSS.,  spicula  nulla, 
seems  impossible  here.  Wernsdorf  interpreted  it  as,  "quorum 
nullus  est  usus,  nulla  fiducia";  Stern  in  a  similar  fashion,  "nulla 
sunt  uana  quorum  usus  est  nullus."  Such  an  interpretation  of 
nulla  is  doubtful  and  at  best  it  is  such  a  colorless  epithet  that  it 
forms  an  anticlimax  after  clausasque  pharetras  and  laxosque 
arcus.  R.  T.  Clark,  Class.  Rev.  1913.  261,  proposes  as  an  emen- 
dation spicula  nuda,  i.  e.  the  unbarbed  arrows.  But  would  the 
defeat  of  the  Parthains  have  changed  their  arrows  from  barbed 
to  unbarbed?  That  is  what  the  poet  represents  by  his  epithets 
clausas  and  laxos  and  we  expect  an  epithet  of  similar  force  with 
spicula.     spicula  muta,  the  reading  of  several  of  the  old  editions, 

48 


originated  with  Barth,  who  claimed  to  find  it  in  his  editio  Ger- 
manica.  This  old  codex,  which  no  one  else  ever  saw  and  about 
which  Barth  could  give  no  definite  information,  probably  existed 
only  in  his  imagination  (see  Schenkl,  Jahrb.  f.  Philol.  Suppl.  Bd. 
24.  398).  Yet  as  an  emendation  muta  for  nulla  is  to  be  approved. 
The  arrows  of  the  Parthians  are  mute,  i.  e.  they  no  longer  hiss 
through  the  air.  stridens  is  an  epithet  frequently  used  to  describe 
the  flight  of  the  arrow;  cf.  Verg.  A.  7.  531,  stridente  sagitta.  So 
Sil.  Ital.  9.  247  speaks  of  the  stridentis  sihila  teli.  Here  muta  gives 
the  opposite  picture  and  the  mute  arrows  are  indicative  of  the 
utter  rout  of  the  Parthians. 

77.  Cf.  Calp.  Eel.  7.  76: 

"nunc  tibi  si  propius  uenerandum  cemere  numen 
sors  dedit  et  praesens  uultumque  habitumque  notasti 
die  age  die,  Corydon,  quae  sit  mihi  forma  deorum." 

78.  GAUDIA  uota:  this  reading  of  the  MSS.  is  much  better 
than  the  gaudia  nota  of  the  Aldine  and  other  early  editions.  Barth 
had  claimed  that  uota  was  the  reading  of  his  Germanica  and 
emended  it  to  uoto.  But  other  editors  had  too  little  confidence  in 
Earth's  u^tus  codex  and  did  not  follow  his  reading. 

79.  SPRETORQUE  MORARUM:  cf.  Ov.  Met  8.  613:  "deorum 
spretor  erat." 

80.  praesumit:  imagines  or  pictures  in  advance.  In  verses 
80-85  the  poet  must  be  picturing  to  himself  the  triumphal  entry 
of  the  brothers  into  the  city  since  the  senate  as  well  as  the  soldiers 
took  part  in  a  triumphal  procession.  Flavius  Vopiscus  describes 
in  the  following  fashion  the  triumph  of  Aurelian  (34):  "iam 
populus  ipse  Romanus,  iam  uexilla  coUegiorum  atque  castrorum 
et  catafractarii  milites  et  opes  regiae  et  omnis  exercitus  et  sena- 
tus     ....     multum  pompae  addiderant." 

81.  augustos  habitus:  probably  refers  to  the  triumphal 
robes;  cf.  Quint.  Inst.  11.  i.  3:  "nee  habitus  triumphalis,  quo 
nihil  excogitari  potest  augustius,  feminas  deceat." 

83.  DEUOTIO:  loyalty.  dcMO^io  was  first  used  of  religious  con- 
secration; e.  g.  Cic.  N.  D.  3.  6.  15:  "tu  autem  etiam  Deciorum 
deuotionibus  placatos  deos  esse  censes."  Later  it  came  to  be 
used,  as  here,  of  allegiance  to  the  state,  laws,  etc.  The  Christian 
writers  then  used  it  of  piety  toward  God;  e.  g.  Lact.  Inst.  2.  12. 
15:  "expersque  omnium  laborum  deo  jiatri  summa  dcuotione 
serviret."     (See  Goclzcr,  Latinit<i  de  Saint-J(iromc,  p.  234.) 

49 


84  f.  AUREA  .  .  .  signa:  the  si^na  of  the  legions  were 
poles,  usually  ending  in  lance  points,  plated  with  silver  and  adorned 
with  silver  discs.  Toward  the  top  of  the  i)ole  there  was  usually  a 
transverse  bar  with  purple  ribbons  hanging  from  it  (see  A.  von 
Domaszewski,  Die  Fahnen  im  Romischen  Heere,  p.  35  ff.).  PUR- 
PUREO  .  .  .  UELO:  must  have  reference  to  the  uexillum 
(a  diminutive  of  ueliim).  The  uexillum  was  the  oldest  standard 
of  the  Roman  army.  It  was  raised  during  the  assembly  of  the 
Comitia  Centuriala  (Liv.  39.  15.  11).  In  the  case  of  a  tumultus 
the  cavalrv  and  infantry  each  rallied  about  a  uexillum;  cf.  Serv. 
Verg.  A.  8.  i:  "proferens  duo  uexilla,  unum  russeum,  quod 
pedites  euocabat,  et  unum  cacruleum,  quod  erat  equitum."  In 
form  the  uexillum  was  a  rectangular  fringed  piece  of  cloth,  usually 
purple,  hanging  from  a  transverse  bar.  After  the  legionary 
signa  were  introduced,  the  uexillum  was  retained  as  the  special 
standard  for  the  cavalry  and  for  troops  of  infantry  separated  from 
the  main  division  for  special  duty  (see  Domaszewski,  op.  cit.  pp. 
25-6).  Yet  the  earliest  signa  of  the  maniples  seem  to  have  been 
combined  with  the  uexillum,  i.e. a  small  flag  was  attached  to  the 
silver  pole  along  with  the  discs  and  other  orders.  It  is  probable 
that  the  new  form  of  the  signum  without  the  uexillum  was  intro- 
duced by  Augustus  (Domaszewski,  op.  cit.  p.  80).  Yet  the  prae- 
torian standards  seem  to  have  retained  the  uexillum  in  combina- 
tion with  the  signum..  Like  the  signa  of  the  legions  they  were 
poles  with  transverse  bars  and  ribbons.  The  poles  were  adorned 
with  crowns  instead  of  discs  and  frequently  ended  in  uexilla, 
surmounted  by  lance  points.  Hence  it  is  evident  that  Nemes- 
ianus  is  referring  to  such  combinations  of  thewexz/Za  withthe  signa 
when  he  speaks  of  the  golden  standards  gleaming  afar  with  purple 
flag- 

85.      SINUATQUE     TRUCES     LEUIS     AURA     DRACONES:      the    light 

breeze  swells  the  grim  dragons.  The  Romans  seem  to  have  borrowed 
the  dragon  as  a  military  standard  from  the  Parthians  or  Dacians,  in 
the  second  or  third  century  A.D.  Vcgetius  speaks  of  the  dragon 
as  the  standard  of  the  cohort,  2.  13 :  "dracones  etiam  per  singulas 
cohortes  a  draconariis  feruntur  ad  proelium."  In  form  the 
standard  was  the  image  of  a  large  dragon  fixed  upon  a  lance. 

86-102.  Invocation  to  Diana  as  the  goddess  of  hunting.  Other 
writers  of  Cynegetica  do  not  fail  to  give  due  honor  to  the  goddess. 
It  is  under  the  auspices  of  Diana  that  Grattius  undertakes  his 

SO 


poem  (v.  2.)  So  Oppian  is  inspired  by  Diana  to  sing  of  hunting 
(i.  20-40).  Xenophon  advises  that  the  hunt  begin  with  prayer 
and  with  promise  to  Apollo  and  Artemis  to  share  with  them  the 
spoils  of  the  chase  (6.  13).  Arrian  describes  the  Celtic  custom  of 
doing  honor  to  the  goddess  and  urges  his  fellow  sportsmen  to 
follow  their  example  (33,  34). 
86.     Cf.  Catull.  34.  9: 

"montium  domina  ut  fores 
siluarumque  uirentium 
saltuumque  reconditorum 
amniumque  sonantum." 
87  f.    SUETOS  SUME  HABITUS:     Huntresses  usually  wore  the 
tunic,  girt  high  as  far  as  the  knee.     So  Vergil  describes  the  dress 
of  a  huntress,  A.  i.  318: 

"namque  umeris  de  more  habilem  suspenderat  arcum 
uenatrix,  dederatque  comam  diflfundere  uentis 
nuda  genu  nodoque  sinus  coUecta  fluentis." 
In  Callimachus'  Hymn  to  Diana,  the  goddess  asks  of  her  father: 
^f    "ybw  /i^XP^    X'''"'^*'* — l<l)¥VV<Tdai  Xeyvurdv,  iv'    iypia  Orjpla    Kalvu. 
Oppian  describes  the  dress  of  a  hunter  with  chiton  girt  to  the 
knee,  1.97   flE.     pictamque    pharetram  :     the  quiver  was  often 
adorned  with  painting.     Cf.  Ov.  Her.  21.  173,  "picta  dea  laeta 
pharetra." 

89.  siNT  AUREA  TELA,  SAGiTTAE:     cf.  Callim.  H.  in  Dian.  1 10. 

90.  coturnus  is  used  by  the  Romans  of  the  high  laced  hunting 
boot,  the  Greek  ivlpo^U.  Probus  (Verg.  G.  2.  8)  defines  it  thus: 
"cothurni  sunt  calceamentorum  genera  uenatorum,  quibus  crura 
etiam  muniuntur;  cuius  calceamenti  effigies  est  in  simulacris 
Liberi  et  Dianac."  So  in  Callimachus'  Hymn  to  Diana,  the 
ivipoiJ.l6ait3.TQ  a  part  of  thehuntingequipmentof  the  goddess,  v.  15: 
3Ai  5^  /xo(  4/x<^t7r6\oi's  '  A/ivi(r£3ai  ilKoai.  vvixtpaz — at  ri  p.01  ivipofxlhat  r« 
Kal,  birnbre  p.-T)KiTi  \vfKai-p.iir'  iXdcpovs  fidWoipn,  Oooiit  »ci/r«f  «5  Kop.ioit¥. 
Compare  also  Verg.  A.  i.  336: 

"uirginibus  Tyriis  mos  est  gestare  pharetram 
purpureoque  alte  suras  uincire  cothurno." 

91.  The  chlamys  was  a  short  mantle  usually  fastened  about 
the  neck  by  means  of  a  fibula.  It  was  worn  especially  by  the 
hunter  who  wrapped  it  around  his  left  arm  when  pursuing  wild 
animals  (cf.  Poll.  5.  18;  Xen.  Cyn.  6.  17).  Wernsdorf  has 
devoted  a  lengthy  excursus  to  the  question  of  the  chlamys  in  this 

51 


place  and  thinks  that  Ncmcsianus  must  have  used  the  term 
loosely  for  the  tunic  since  Diana  as  a  huntress  is  usually  repre- 
sented with  a  girded  tunic  and  since  the  chlamys  was  never  belted 
as  described  in  the  following  verse.  But  the  chlamys  appears 
frequently  in  the  representations  of  Diana.  In  the  well  known 
statue  of  the  Artemis  of  Versailles  (Louvre)  the  chlamys  is  thrown 
over  the  shoulder  and  then  wound  about  the  waist  over  her  girded 
tunic.  Nemesianus  would  probably  represent  the  goddess  with 
the  short  chlamys  flying  back  from  her  shoulders  and  the  con- 
rugesque  sinus  of  the  following  line  refer  evidently  not  to  the  folds 
of  the  chlamys  but  to  the  girded  chiton.  Thus  Dido,  dressed  for 
the  hunt,  wears  the  dilamys  over  her  dress,  Verg.  A.  4.  137: 
"Sidoniam  picto  chlamydem  circumdata  limbo; 

cui  pharetra  ex  auro,  crines  nodantur  in  aurum, 

aurea  purpuream  subnectit  fibula  uestem." 
AURATO  MiiLTUM  SUBTEMINE  LUSA:  artfully  intcrwoven  with 
many  a  golden  thread.  The  subtemen  was  the  woof  or  thread 
carried  by  the  shuttle  in  weaving.  It  seems  that  in  weaving  cloth 
of  gold  it  was  usual  for  the  woof  to  carry  the  golden  thread.  Cf. 
Verg.  A.  3.  483:  "fert  picturatas  auri  subtegmine  uestes." 
Servius  says  in  regard  to  this  passage:  "nam  male  quidam  sub- 
temen stamen  accipiunt  cum  stamen  de  auro  esse  non  possit." 
lusa  is  unusual  in  its  force  here  but  seems  to  be  used  in  imitation 
of  Verg.  G.  2.  464,  "inlusasque  auro  uestes." 

92  f .  Let  the  belt  with  its  jewelled  fastenings  confine  the  wrinkled 
folds.  The  balteus  is  used  here  of  the  woman's  girdle,  (fwxr;,  cf. 
Callim.  H.  in  Dian.  no  f.),  with  which  the  tunic  was  girded  up. 
With  this  passage  is  to  be  compared  especially  the  selection  from 
a  hymn  to  Diana  which  Terentianus  Maurus  quotes  as  from  the 
Ino  of  Livius  Andronicus  (1931): 
"sed  iam  purpureo  suras  include  cothumo 

balteus  et  reuocet  uolucres  in  pectore  sinus 

pressaque  iam  grauida  crepitent  tibi  terga  pharetra." 
Wemsdorf  compares  also  the  description  of  Diana,  Claud.  Rapt. 
Pros.  2.  33:     "crispatur  gemino  uestis  Gortynia  cinctu — poplite 
fusa  tenus." 

94  f.  The  nymphs  were  the  companions  of  Artemis  in  the  hunt 
and  dance  (cf.  Hom.  Od.  6.  105).  In  Callim.  H.  in  Dian.  (13-17) 
she  asks  of  Zeus  sixty  ocean  nymphs  to  form  her  chorus  and  twenty 
nymphs  of  the  river  Amnisus  to  care  for  her  dogs  and  hunting 

52 


equipment.  Grattius  also  represents  the  nymphs  as  the  com- 
panions of  Diana  (16-18).  Naiades  faciles:  the  Naiads  were 
the  nymphs  of  springs,  streams,  and  of  fresh  water  in  general. 
faciles,  gentle  or  friendly,  is  used  as  an  epithet  of  the  nymphs  by 
Vergil  (Eel.  3.  9),  of  the  Hamadryads  by  Propertius  (2.  34.  76). 
UIRIDIQUE  luuENTA  PUBENTEs  Dryades:  the  Dryads  were 
originally  the  nymphs  of  the  forest  although  later  they  were 
identified  with  the  Hamadryads  or  tree  nymphs.  The  distinction 
is  given  by  Servius  on  Verg.  Eel.  10.  62 :  "hamadryades  nymphae 
quae  cum  arboribus  et  nascuntvu-  et  pereunt;  dryades  uero  sunt, 
quae  inter  arbores  habitant."  uiridique  iuuenta  pubentes: 
in  connection  with  the  Dryads  we  can  scarcely  keep  from  seeing 
in  this  phrase  a  description  of  them  as  tree  nymphs.  Yet  the 
phrase  may  be  used  simply  to  designate  their  youthf ulness ;  cf. 
Verg.  A.  5.  295,  uiridique  iuuenta.  Callimachus  (H.  in  Dian.  14) 
describes  the  nymphs  of  Artemis  thus:  irdo-as  hvaireois,  fl-4<ras  (n 
xaiiai   dfilrpovi. 

95.  Nymphaeque,  unde  amnibus  umor:  cf.  Verg.  A.  8.  71: 
"nymphae  genus  amnibus  unde  est."  The  river  nymphs  formed 
a  special  class  of  the  water  nymphs.  They  were  called  Potameides 
or  often  named  after  their  especial  rivers,  as  the  nymphae  Pacto- 
lides,  Ov.  Met.  6.  16. 

96.  The  Oreads  were  the  mountain  nymphs;  cf.  Calp.  Eel.  4. 
134:  "placido  quin  fonte  lauatur — Nais,  et  humanum  non  cal- 
catura  cruorem — per  iuga  siccato  velox  pede  currit  Oreas." 
Vergil  (A.  i.  498)  describes  a  thousand  Oreads  as  forming  the 
chorus  of  Diana : 

"qualis  in  Eurotae  ripis  aut  per  iuga  Cynthi 

exercet  Diana  choros,  quam  mille  secutae 

hinc  atque  hinc  glomcrantur  Oreades." 
DOCiLis  .  .  .  Echo:  Echo  was  one  of  the  Oreads.  So 
Seneca  (Troad.  109)  speaks  of  her  as,  habitansque  cauis  montibus 
Echo;  cf.  also  Eur.  Hecabe  mo.  According  to  Ovid,  Hera  took 
from  her  the  power  of  speech,  except  that  of  echoing,  because  she 
had  protected  the  amours  of  Zeus.  She  then  fell  in  love  with 
Narcissus  but,  as  her  love  was  not  returned,  pined  away  until 
there  remained  nothing  of  hcT  but  her  voice  (Met.  3.  356-40). 
DOCILIS :  easily  taught  and  hence  responsive;  cf.  Calp.  Eel.  2.  28: 
"me  Siluanus  amat,  dociles  mihi  donat  aucnas."  decantet: 
must  take  its  color  from  the  character  of  Echo,  repeating  in  a 

53 


chant-like  fashion  the  words  of  the  Oreads.  It  is  not  necessary  to 
see  in  decatitet  the  unusual  force  of  iterum  ilerutnque  aduocet  as 
given  by  the  Thesaurus  Linguae  Lalinae.  We  understand  that 
the  Oreads  and  Echo  are  to  form  a  part  of  the  chorus  of  Diana 
when,  in  connection  with  the  preceding  verses,  the  poet  says: 
let  responsive  Echo  sing  over  the  words  of  the  Oreads.  He  thus 
makes  a  coordinate  clause  of  the  feature  which  we  expect  in  a 
descriptive  subordinate  clause,  let  the  Oreads  be  your  companions 
whose  words,  etc. 

98.  DOMOS  ET  LUSTRA  FERARUM:  cf.  Grat.  235:  "iuxtaquc 
domus  quaesita  ferarum."  Verg.  A.  3.  646:  "cum  uitam  in 
siluis  inter  deserta  ferarum — lustra  domosque  traho." 

100.  AUiDOSQUE  TUMULTus:  the  greedy  tumult,  i.  e.  of  the 
avaricious  citizens.  This  reading  of  the  MSS.  has  been  variously 
altered  because  of  the  repetition  in  auido,  v.  102.  Ulitius  pro- 
posed rabidos  or  pauidos.  Baehrens  reads  rabidos,  Postgate, 
rapidos.  These  emendations  lend  no  distinctive  force  to  tumul- 
tus.  If  the  reading  of  the  MSS.  is  to  be  changed  I  would  suggest 
subitosque  tumultus  as  in  Manil.  i.  896:  "quin  et  bella  canunt 
ignes  subitosque  tumultus." 

101.  BELLIQUE  FRAGORES:      cf.  Stat.  Th.  7.  797. 

102.  auido:  this  is  the  reading  of  A  and  C,  auidus  of  the 
old  editions  based  on  the  Aldine.  Ulitius  interpreted  the  verse 
as  referring  to  fishing  but  this  would  form  an  anticlimax  after  the 
preceding  verse.  The  picture  is  rather  of  traders  risking  their 
lives  on  the  sea  for  gain.  The  same  sentiment  is  frequently 
expressed  by  poets,  e.  g.  Hor.  C.  i.  28.  18:  "exitio  est  auidum 
mare  nautis." 

103-126.  The  theme  proper  begins.  The  poet  first  treats  of 
the  selection  of  dogs  for  breeding. 

104  f.  From  being  the  god  of  entrances,  Janus  was  also  con- 
sidered the  god  of  the  beginnings  of  all  things.  Hence  the  begin- 
nings of  all  divisions  of  time  were  sacred  to  him.  He  was  invoked 
at  the  beginning  of  the  day;  cf.  Hor.  S.  2.  6.  20,  "matutine  pater, 
seu  'Jane'  libentius  audis."  On  the  Kalends,  as  the  beginning  of 
the  month,  he  was  associated  in  worship  with  Juno;  cf.  Macrob. 
1.9.  16.  Especially  sacred  to  Janus  were  the  Kalends  of  January, 
since  the  first  month  of  the  year  was  named  for  him  as  the  god 
of  beginnings,  temporis  auctor:  cf.  Ov.  Fast.  i.  65: 
"Jane,  biceps,  anni  tacite  labentis  origo." 

54 


105.  INOCCIDUUM  .  .  .  AEUUM:  inocctduus  is  usually 
applied  to  constellations.  As  applied  to  the  year  it  must  mean 
ever  recurring  or  revolving.  For  the  figure  vnih  pandit  cf.  My- 
thogr.  Vat.  3.  4.  9:     "Janus    ....    anniianuam  pandat." 

106.  CURSU:  Xemesianus  uses  this  frequently  as  a  technical 
term  of  the  chase.  Grattius  prefers  to  use  metaphorical  expres- 
sions taken  from  warfare  such  as  in  armis,  173.  recursu:  the 
withdrawal  of  the  dogs  from  the  chase.  The  idea  is  expressed 
more  fully  in  verses  189-90.  facilem,  etc.:  readily  obeying 
commands  both  to  pursue  and  to  withdraw.  For  facilis  with  the 
meaning  tractable  cf.  Grat.  160. 

107.  The  Spartan  and  the  Molossian  dogs  were  the  most 
renowned  of  antiquity.  Yet  it  is  difficult  to  characterize  defi- 
nitely these  breeds  of  dogs,  partly  because  of  the  many  kinds  of 
each,  partly  because  the  Roman  poets  used  these  names  loosely 
to  designate  any  good  hunting  dog.  The  two  main  varieties  of 
the  Laconian  dog  were  the  Castorian  and  the  fox-like,  which  so 
resembled  the  fox  in  appearance  that  it  was  said  to  be  a  mixture 
of  fox  and  dog.  But  the  fame  of  the  Spartan  dogs  probably 
rested  upon  the  Castorian  breed  which  was  keen-scented,  swift, 
and  courageous.  Xenophon  recommends  the  Spartan  dogs  for 
tracking  the  hare  and  even  for  hunting  the  wild  boar  (Cyn.  10.  i). 
Of  the  canis  Molossus  there  were  evidently  two  types,  one  similar 
to  the  mastifif  which  could  have  been  useful  only  for  guarding 
house  and  fold,  the  other  similar  to  the  greyhound  but  much 
heavier  in  build.  The  famous  Molossian  hunting  dogs  must  have 
belonged  to  this  latter  variety.  These  two  types  of  the  Molos- 
sian dog  are  represented  upon  the  coins  of  Epirus  (see  O.  Keller, 
Die  Antike  Tierwelt,  1  p.  103  ff.).  Vergil  describes  the  Spartan 
and  Molossian  dogs  as  useful  both  for  guarding  the  fold  and  for 
hunting  (G.  3.  404-13).     So  also  Horace  says  of  them,  Ep.  6.  5: 

"nam  qualis  aut  Molossus  aut  fuluus  Lakon, 
amica  uis  pastoribus, 
agam  per  altas  aure  sublata  niuis 
quaecumque  praecedit  fera." 
Seneca  gives  a  good  characterization  of  them  as  hunting  dogs, 
Phaedr.  31  ff.: 

"at  vos  laxas 

canibus  tacitis  mittite  habenas 
teneant  acres  lora  Molossos 

55 


et  pugnaces  tendant  Cretes 

fortia  trito  uincula  coUo. 

at  Spartanos 

genus  est  audax  auidumque  ferae 

nodo  cautus  propiore  liga." 
1 08  ff.   This  description  of  the  appearance  of  a  good  dog  is  to 
be  compared  with  the  description  by  Grattius,  269-79,  by  Oppian, 
Cyn.  I.  401-13,  by  Xcnophon,  Cyn.  4.  i. 

108  f.  CRURiBUS  ....  RiGiDis:  Grattius  expresses  the 
thought  more  aptly,  277:     "siccis  ego  dura  lacertis  crura  ueHm." 

109  f.  Beneath  the  broad  breast  and  at  the  end  of  the  ribs,  the  body 
shotdd  be  gently  sloping  with  well-developed  keel,  multam  .... 
carinam:  used  because  of  the  resemblance  of  the  breastbone 
to  the  keel  of  a  ship.  Pliny  says  (N.  H.  11.  37.  82):  "pectus 
homini  tantum  latum,  reliquis  carinatum,  uolucribus  magis  et 
inter  eas  aquaticis  maxime."  Grattius  describes  the  breast  of 
the  dog  thus,  274:  "ualidis  tum  surgat  pectus  ab  armis — quod 
magnos  capiat  motus  magnisque  supersit."  Cf.  Oppian,  Cyn.  i. 
409:       evpiet  (bfjioirXdrai,  wXevpCjv  iiriKdpffia  rapffd. 

111.  The  keel-shaped  chest  gradually  narrows  again  into  a 
belly  lean  and  firm,  sicca:  denotes  a  firm  and  healthful  condi- 
tion of  the  flesh;  cf.  siccis  lacertis,  Grattius,  277.  siccitas  is  used 
with  similar  meaning  by  Cicero,  De  Sen.  34:  "summam  esse  in  eo 
corporis  siccitatem."  SE  collig.\t:  to  narrow;  this  meaning  is 
rare  and  usually  found  in  the  perfect  participle;  cf.  Ov.  Met.  13. 
911:     "ingens  apicem  collectus  in  unum     ....     uertex." 

112.  RENiBUS:  =  lumbis.  diductaque  coxas:  wide 
spreading  hips,  coxas  is  a  Greek  accusative.  For  a  similar  use 
of  diducta  cf.  Avien.  Arat.  467:  "nam  diducta  ulnas  (Andromeda) 
magna  distendit  in  aethra." 

113.  Arrian  in  his  description  of  the  greyhound  (Cyn.  5.  7.) 
advises  that  the  ears  should  be  large  and  soft  so  as  to  appear  from 
their  size  and  softness  as  if  broken.  So  also  Xenophon,  Cyn.  4.  i : 
(Sra  /xaKpd,  \eirrd,  ^iXA  6ri<r6€v. 

114.  Huic  PARiLEM  SUMMITTE  marem:  cf.  Grat.  263 :  "iunge 
pares  ergo."  sic  omnia  magnum:  Scaliger  thought  the  reading 
should  be  sunt  omnia  magna.  Stern  interpreted  the  words  of  the 
text  in  a  similar  fashion:  "sic  (si  parilem  submittis)  nihil  non 
egregium  et  admirabile  erit."     The  singular  magnum  he  explained 

56 


as  lending  the  force,  "So  ist  alles  ein  groszes  Ganzes."  Such 
interpretations  fail  to  consider  the  following  clause — dum  siiperant 
uires — which  must  depend  closely  on  summitte  marem.  The 
balance  of  the  sentence  and  the  unity  of  thought  is  better  kept  by 
Interpreting  magnum  as  limiting  marem  and  omnia  as  a  Greek 
accusative:  a  male  thus  large  in  every  proportion  as  the  female 
which  I  have  described.  So  Vergil  in  the  description  of  a  good  cow 
says  (G.  54):  "tumlongo  nuUuslateri  modus;  omnia  magna." 
Although  the  adverbial  omnia  occurs  elsewhere  in  Vergil  (A.  4. 
558;  9.  650),  this  use  was  very  rare  in  classical  Latin  and  estab- 
lished itself  first  in  prose  after  the  time  of  Fronto  (see  Wolfflin, 
Das  adverbielle  cetera,  alia,  omnia,  Archiv  f.    lat.    Lexikogr.   2, 

P-  95). 

115.  For  similarity  of  thought  and  expression  cf.  Verg.  G. 
3.  63:  "  inter ea,  superat  gregibus  dum  laeta  iuuentas — solue 
mares."  laeto  flore  iuuentas:  cf.  Verg.  A.  7.  162:  "prim- 
aeuo  flore  iuuentus." 

117.  Cf.  Verg.  G.  3.  67 :     "subeunt  morbi  tristisque  senectus." 

118.  Supply  cane5  as  subject  of  </aiMn^  non  firmo  robore: 
ablative  of  quality  limiting  prolem.  The  combination  of  this 
phrase  with  inualidam  may  be  compared  with  such  a  pleonastic 
use  as  ualidas     .     .     .     uires,  v.  156. 

119.  The  male  and  female  should  be  equal  in  physical  perfec- 
tion but  unequal  in  age. 

121  f.  BINOS  .  .  .  soles:  sol,  frequently  used  by  the 
poets  as  synonymous  with  day,  is  rarely  used  absolutely  for  year. 

122.  Verse  122  is  followed  in  all  the  MSS.  by  verses  224-30. 
These  verses  are  obviously  out  of  place  in  a  discussion  of  the 
breeding.  Moreover  verse  231,  following  verse  223  in  the 
MSS.,  forms  an  abrupt  change  of  topic  after  the  treatment  of 
rabies.  Schrader  (Obss.  p.  86)  proposed  to  remedy  the  latter 
passage  by  placing  verses  23 1-6  after  verse  127  of  the  MSS.  But 
this  would  only  increase  the  difficulties  of  the  first  passage. 
Haupt  first  suggested  that  verses  123-9  oi  the  MSS.  be  placed 
after  verse  223.  In  this  way  the  treatment  of  the  different  breeds 
of  dogs  is  united  in  one  passage  as  it  seems  that  it  must  have  been 
originally.  In  a  study  of  the  form  of  the  archetype,  Haupt  has 
shown  how  these  verses  might  have  been  misplaced  in  our  MSS. 
(see  Introduction  p.  7). 

57 


123-  SE  .  .  .  .  FORM  A  R  it:  to  becomc  full  or  wax; 
expressed  by  Ovid  thus,  Met.  2.  344:  "luna  quater  iunctis  imple- 
rat  cornibus  orbem."  bina  ....  lampade:  singular  for 
plural;    cf.  Lucr.  5.  879:    corpore  hino. 

125.  APERiT  partus:  cf.  Hor.  C.  S.  13:  "rite  matures 
aperire  partus— lenis  Ilithyia."  matura  grauedo:  ripe  preg- 
nancy, grauedo  was  not  used  with  this  significance  in  the  classical 
period.     Phny  uses  it  frequently  of  the  headache,  e.  g.  23.  i .  6.  10. 

126.  que:  post-positive  as  occasionally  in  dactylic  poetry 
(see  Bednara,  Archiv  f.  lat.  Lexikogr.  14,  p.  326).  strepere: 
swarming. 

127-194.  Discussion  of  the  care  of  the  young  dogs.  The  poet 
treats  of  the  selection  of  the  best  whelps,  of  the  proper  food  to  be 
given  them,  and  of  the  correct  training  for  the  hunt. 

127.  Cf.  Col.  7.  12.  11:  "primus  effoetae  partus  amouendus 
est,  quoniam  tiruncula  nee  recte  nutrit  et  educatio  totius  habitus 
aufert  incrementum." 

128.  malueris:  future  perfect  with  future  force.  Mox: 
afterward,  i.  e.  in  the  case  of  succeeding  litters,  minores:  used 
of  the  young  dogs  by  Grattius,  303. 

129.  POPULOSos  ....  fetus:  numerous  offspring, 
populosus  is  found  only  in  late  Latinity;  cf.  Kretschmann,  De 
Latinitate  Apulei,  p.  51. 

130.  macie  tenues:  cf.  the  similar  expression  in  Verg.  G.  3. 
129:     "ipsa  autem  macie  tenuant  armenta  uolentes."     sucique 

.  .  inanes:  sucus  is  used  of  the  sap  of  plants,  of  the 
blood  or  vigor  of  animals.  Terence,  Eun.  318,  describes  a  girl 
thus:  "color  uerus  corpus  solidum  et  suci  plenum."  Cf.  also 
Hor.  C.  3.  27.  53:  "antequam  turpis  macies  decentes — occupet 
malas  teneraeque  sucus — defluat  praedae." 

131  f.  Grattius  also  advises  that  only  part  of  the  litter  be 
kept,  288: 

"ne  matrem  indocilis  natorum  turba  fatiget, 
percenserc  notis  iamque  inde  excemere  prauos." 

132.  uiscERE:  ubere.  uiscera  is  used  of  any  of  the  vital 
organs  but  rarely  in  the  singular  as  here;  yet  cf.  Ov.  Met.  6.  290; 
Tib.  1.3.  76. 

134.  abuaturue  domo:  the  primary  meaning  of  abdere  is 
to  remove,  amouere,  AvoTidivai      Later  it  took  on  the  force  to  shut 

58 


up  or  conceal.  Its  primary  meaning  is  best  seen  in  passages  where 
the  place  from  which  is  indicated;  so  Tib.  2.  i.  82:  "et  procul 
ardentes  hinc  precor  abde  faces."  But  with  abdo,  when  having 
the  force  of  includo,  an  ablative  denoting  place  where  is  frequently 
found;  cf.  Verg.  A.  i.  60:  "sed  pater  omnipotens  speluncis 
abdidit  atris."  Hence  the  question  arises  as  to  whether  Nemesia- 
nus  means  shut  up  at  home  or  remove  from  home.  The  same 
phrase,  with  the  same  difficulty  of  interpretation,  occurs  in  Verg. 
G.  3.  96:  "abde  domo  nee  turpi  ignosce  senectae."  The  latter 
passage  seems  best  interpreted  of  shutting  the  horse  up  or  leaving 
him  no  longer  at  liberty  (see  Conington  ad  loc).  In  regard  to 
the  young  dogs,  however,  the  inferior  ones  would  proVjably  be 
killed  or  removed  from  home  in  order  to  dispense  with  the  diffi- 
culty of  feeding  and  caring  for  them.  (For  the  uses  of  abdere 
see  Thielmann,  Archiv.  f.  lat.  Lexikogr.  3.  p.  471.) 

135  f-  QUis  NONDUM  GRESSUS  STABILES:  who  have  not  yet  a 
steady  gait,  gressus  is  practically  synonymous  with  legs;  cf. 
Pliny  N.  H.  8.  12.  12.  33:  "cauent  hoc  dracones  ob  idque 
gressus  primum  alligant  Cauda."  neque  lumina  p.\ssa  Lcci- 
FERUM  uidere  iubar:  nor  have  their  opened  eyes  beheld  the  bril- 
liancy of  the  day.  Pliny  gives  an  interesting  theory  in  regard  to 
the  length  of  time  required  for  the  opening  of  the  eyes,  N.  H. 
8.  40.  62.  151 :  "gignunt  caecos,  et  quo  largiore  aluntur  lacte  eo 
tardiorem  uisum  accipiunt,  non  tamen  umquam  ultra  XXI  diem 
nee  ante  septimum.  quidam  tradunt,  si  unus  gignatur,  nono  die 
cemere,  si  gemini,  decumo,  itemque  in  singulos  adici  totidcm 
tarditatisad  lucem  dies."  Luciferum  ....  iubar:  Lm«/<t, 
properly  the  morning  star  which  heralded  the  day,  is  frequently 
used  as  a  substantive  for  day.  Similar  to  the  adjectival  use  with 
iubar  are  the  words  of  Ovid  F.  2.  149:  "quintus  ab  aequoreis 
nitidum  iubar  extulit  undis — Lucifer." 

137.  SPECTATis  ....  DiCTis:  advice  which  has  stood  the 
test  of  experience. 

138  f.     Cf.  Grattius,  298: 
"illius  et  manibus  uires  sit  cura  futuras 
perpensare:   leuis  dcducct  pondere  fratres." 

139.  By  their  heavy  bodies  you  will  be  able  to  recognize  in  advance 
those  which  will  he  swiftest  in  the  chase.  Wcrnsdorf  and  Stern 
were  unwilling  to  think  that  the  heaviest  dog  would  be  chosen  as 
the  swiftest.     Hence  Wcrnsdorf  explained:  "corporibus  graui1)us 

59 


uel  lis,  quae  praeponderant,  praenoscere  qui  leues  cursu  futuri 
sunt,  nempe  leuiores  pondere."  Grattius  was  thought  to  advise 
the  selection  of  the  lightest  dog,  according  to  the  old  interpreta- 
tion, leuis  {nam.)  deduce!  pondere  fratres.  But  leuis  is  best  inter- 
preted as  an  ace.  plural  and  in  that  case  Grattitis  agrees  with 
Nemesianus  as  to  the  superiority  of  the  heaviest  dog.  (See 
VoUmer,  P.  L.  M.  2.  i.  p.  34.) 

140-50.  Instead  of  this  novel  and  somewhat  cruel  method  of 
selecting  the  best  puppies  which  Nemesianus  relates,  Grattius 
would  select  them  from  certain  natural  characteristics.  He 
describes  in  a  very  realistic  fashion  the  actions  of  the  best  puppy 
in  the  litter,  293  ff . : 

"adfectat  materna  regna  sub  aluo, 

ubera  tota  tenet,  a  tergo  liber  aperto, 

dum  tepida  indulget  terris  dementia  mundi; 

uerum  ubi  Caurino  perstrinxit  frigore  uesper, 
*ire  placet  turbaque  potens  operitur  inerti." 

140  f.  Let  a  line  be  drawn  widely  with  a  circumference  of  flame 
and  let  the  fiery  heat  mark  off  a  suitable  circle. 

143  f.     iNDiscRETA     ....     TURBA:  indistinguishable 

pack.  The  dogs  are  not  yet  so  far  developed  that  the  good  ones 
may  be  distinguished  from  the  bad.  Similarly  Vergil  uses  indis- 
crete in  describing  twin  brothers,  A.  10.  391 :  "simillima  proles — 
indiscreta  suis  gratusque  parentibus  error." 

144.  examen:  examine,  the  reading  of  the  Vulgate,  necessi- 
tated joining  honestos  with  partus,  i.  e.  the  mother  by  her  test  will 
indicate  the  worthy  offspring,  examen,  the  reading  of  all  the 
MSS.,  is  much  superior:  the  mother  will  make  the  test  of  her  off- 
spring, examen  in  the  sense  of  test  or  trial  is  poetical  and  late. 
See  Schulze  on  the  frequent  use  of  examen  with  this  significance 
by  Symmachus,  Diss.  Phil.  Hal.  6.  p.  159. 

145.  TREPIDOSQUE  PERICLO:  Baehrens  has  thus  Corrected  the 
reading  of  the  MSS.,  trepidoque  periclo.  If  the  reading  of  the 
MSS.  is  followed,  a  double  construction  must  be  understood  for 
the  two  ablatives,  iudicio  and  periclo,  i.  e.  saving  them  by  her  judg- 
ment and  from  the  danger.  Such  a  use  seems  impossible.  More- 
over the  epithet  trepidus  is  naturally  applied  to  the  dogs  rather 
than  to  the  danger.  Postgate's  suggested  emendation,  trepidans- 
que,  improves  the  sentence  structure  but  departs  farther  from  the 
reading  of  the  MSS.  than  the  correction  of  Baehrens. 

60 


148.  Wemsdorf  compares  Pliny,  N.  H.  8.  40.  62.  151:  "opti- 
mus  in  fetu  qui  nouissimus  cemere  incipit  aut  quem  primiun  fert 
in  cubile  feta." 

primum:  the  best  whelp  in  the  litter.  CUBILI:  a  dative  with 
the  goal  notion  as  Verg.  A.  5.  451,  it  clamor  caelo;  Hor.  C.  i.  28. 
10,  Panthoiden  iterum  Oreo  demissum.  (Cf.  Schmalz,  Syntax. 
p.  71.)  Wolfflin  misinterprets  the  passage  when  he  translates, 
"sie  tragt  ihn  vom  Lager  fort"  {Archiv  f.  lat.  Lexikogr.  2.  p.  252), 

149.  MOX  ALIUM,  Mox  DEINDE  alium:  mox  ....  mox  \s 
not  to  be  interpreted  as  modo  ....  modo,  although  it  acquired 
this  force  in  late  Latin.  Here  it  is  literal  and  cumulative,  soon 
another,  then  soon  another.  (See  Wolfflin,  Archiv,  2.  p.  252). 
CONSCIA  MATER :  the  knowing  mother,  i.  e.  with  an  intuition  for 
selecting  the  best  of  her  young. 

150.  segregat:  separates  from  the  rest  of  the  litter,  segregat 
thus  approaches  its  literal  meaning,  to  separate  from  the  flock; 
cf.  Phaedr.  3.  15.  3:  "ouesque  segregatas  ostendit  procul."  If 
we  recall  the  fact  that  egregiam  literally  means  chosen  from  the 
herd,  the  combination  of  the  two  words  is  rather  striking. 

151.  genetrice  simul:  simul  as  a  preposition  with  the 
ablative  is  found  in  the  poets  and  Tacitus.  It  is  frequently 
postpositive  as  here;  cf.  Tac.  Ann.  3.  64,  septemuiris  simul;  Sil. 
Ital.  3.  268,  his  simul.  Zochbauer,  Untersuchungen  zu  den 
Annalen  des  Tacitus,  p.  48,  has  attempted  to  prove  that  simul 
is  used  with  the  dative  case  instead  of  the  ablative.  His  argu- 
ments are  based  upon  those  instances  where  simul  is  used  with 
forms  which  might  be  either  dative  or  ablative.  Where  the 
ablative  case  is  used,  he  would  explain  the  ablative  as  an  absolute 
use  and  simul  as  adjectival  or  adverbial.  Hence  he  interprets 
genlrice  simul  as  ita  ut  genetrix  simul  sit.  Such  an  interpretation  is 
forced.  The  ablative  case  of  this  passage  is  supported  by  the 
use  in  Sil.  Ital.  5.  418:  "auulsa  est  nam  protinus  hosti — ore 
simul  ceruix." 

152.  MOLLi  ....  SERO:  cf.  Verg.  G.  3.  405:  "uclocis 
Spartae  catulos  acremque  Molossum — pascc  sero  pingui." 
Servius  (ad  loc.)  explains:  sero  pingui,  aqua  lactis  quae  pingucs 
efficit  canes,  lactis  abundans:  abundans  with  the  gentitve 
is  not  so  common  as  with  the  ablative.  See  Stocklein,  Abunda- 
bilis — abundus,  Archiv  f.  lat.  Lexikogr.  7.  p.  207.     It  is  noticeable 

61 


that  of  the  fifteen  instances  of  abundans  with  the  genitive,  which 
Stocklein  cites,  five  are  with  the  genitive  laclis.  Cf.  Verg.  Eel. 
2.  20:     "quam  diues  pecoris,  niuei  quam  lactis  abundans." 

153.  Cf.  Calp.  Eel.  5.  53:  "tumidis  spument  tibi  mulctra 
papillis." 

154.  occasionally  furnish  them  bread  with  milk  as  food.  Cf. 
Varro,  R.  R.  2.  9.  10:  "nee  non  ita  panem  hordaceum  dandum, 
ut  non  potius  eum  in  lacte  des  intritum."  Grattius  advises 
similar  food  for  the  dogs,  307:  "lacte  nouam  pubem  faciliquc 
tuebere  maza." 

156.  promittere:  show  signs  of.  ualidas  ....  uires: 
the  conjunction  of  a  synonymous  adjective  and  substantive  was 
one  of  the  features  of  the  tumor  Africus.  Sittl  {Lokale  Verschie- 
denheiten  der  lat.  Sprache,  p.  95)  cites  such  instances  as  profundus 
altitudines,  Amob.  38.  p.  25.  12;  fecundae  ubertatis.  Mart.  Cap. 
5-  428. 

157.  candentem  ....  axem:  in  midsummer  the  sun 
reaches  its  highest  arch  across  the  sky  and  passes  nearest  the 
zenith  of  the  vault.  Valerius  Flaccus  describes  in  a  similar 
fashion  the  sun  at  midday,  3.  481: 

"iam  summas  caeli  Phoebus  candentior  arces 
uicerat  et  longas  medius  reuocauerat  umbras." 

158.  TARDASQUE  uiAs:  bccause  the  days  in  summer  are 
longer.  Cancrique  morantis:  the  sign  of  the  Zodiac  in  which 
the  sun  is  found  at  the  time  of  the  summer  solstice.  The  epithet 
morantis  is  used  since,  at  the  time  of  the  solstice,  the  sun  seems  to 
stand  still  in  its  northward  movement  and  the  lengthening  of  the 
days  is  imperceptible.  Wemsdorf  compares  Manil.  i.  568: 
"alter  ad  extremi  decurrens  sidera  Cancri 

in  quo  consummat  Phoebus  lucemque  moramque 
tardaque  per  longos  circumfert  lurnina  flexus, 
aestiuum  medio  nomen  sibi  sumit  ab  aestu." 

159.  minuisse:  the  perfect  infinitive  is  frequently  used 
instead  of  the  present  by  the  dactylic  poets  because  of  its  metrical 
convenience,  saginam:  the  heavier  food  of  bread  and  milk 
prescribed  in  v.  154  and  again  in  v.  175. 

160.  maintain  rather  the  liquid  nourishment,  i.  e.  the  molle 
serum  of  v.  152.     magis  in  the  sense  of  potius  is  not  unknown  in 

62 


the  classical  period  but  becomes  frequent  in  the  late  Latin  (see 
Krebs — Schmalz,  Antibarbarus) . 

i6i.  GRAUis  ....  moles:  the  Aeavy  ^M/fe  of  their  bodies 
resulting  if  they  are  overfed,  deprauet:  make  crooked  or  dis- 
tort; cf.  Varro,  L.  L.  9.  ii:  "ut  eorum  (puerorum)  deprauata 
corrigant  crura."  Xenophon  likewise  states  that  a  heavy  diet 
will  distort  the  legs  of  a  young  dog  (Cyn.  7.4). 

162.  tum:  at  that  age.  nexus  nodosque:  synonymous 
terms  unless  nodos  is  used  of  the  muscles  as  in  Stat.  Th.  6.  819: 
"grauia  ossa  tamen  nodisque  lacerti — difficiles." 

163.  CRURA  natantia:  unsteady  legs.  Calpumius  uses 
natare  of  a  necklace  swinging  to  and  fro,  6.  43:  "rutiloque 
monilia  torque — extrema  ceruice  natant."  Ovid  describes  thus  a 
foot  slipping  about  in  a  shoe  which  is  too  large,  Ars.  Am.  i.  516: 
"nee  uagus  in  laxa  pes  tibi  pelle  natet." 

165.  NEQUE  ...  .  neque:  Nemcsianus  uses  neque 
.  .  .  .  neque  in  joining  two  prohibitive  subjunctives  (cf.w 
227,  8),  nee  in  adding  a  prohibitive  subjunctive  to  previous  com- 
mands (cf.  w.  189,  263,  299). 

166.  impatiens:  sc.  of  the  mischievous  actions  of  the  pup- 
pies, noceasque:  the  negative  extends  to  this  but  que  seems 
to  indicate  an  explanatory  detail  of  the  previous  command. 

167.  CURSiBUS:  cf.  v.  106,  n.  The  corresponding  term  for 
the  chase  used  by  Oppian  and  Xenophon  is  8p6fiot.  remotis: 
removed  from  the  general  household  or  from  their  mother ;  hence 
it  has  the  force  of  shut  up  or  confined.  The  translation  of  this 
passage  by  Cabaret — Dupaty  (Panckoucke's  Bibliothhque  Lat. 
Fran.  vol.  l)  is  ludicrous.  He  interprets  remotis  as  weaned  and 
sees  in  the  following  verses  a  description  of  the  play  of  the  young 
dogs  when  at  liberty.  He  is  thus  forced  to  explain  rohore,  v.  1 70, 
as  a  tree  and  postibus,  v.  171,  as  pieces  of  wood.  But  the  poet  is 
clearly  giving,  as  his  reason  for  not  confining  the  dogs,  a  descrip- 
tion of  the  way  in  which  they  would  injure  themselves  in  try- 
ing to  escape. 

168.  mandere:  Hensius  proposed  this  correction  for  pan- 
dere,  the  reading  of  the  MSS.  pandere  ualuas  could  scarcely  be 
used  of  the  actions  of  dogs.  The  prolcptic  epithet  laceras,  applied 
to   the  d  oors,  indicates  that  mandere  is  the  correct  reading. 

63 


172.  Mox  lAM  cum:  mox  cum  iam,  the  arrangement  of  the 
Vulgate,  is  retained  by  Baehrens. 

173.  QUATER    BINOS    UOLUENS      ....      MENSES:      cf.    Hof 

C.  4.  6.  38: 

"rite  crescentem  face  Noctilucam 
prosperam  frugum  celeremque  pronos 
uoluere  menses." 

174.  SPECTAUERIS:  this  passage  has  been  variously  inter- 
preted inasmuch  as  the  folliowng  ttinc  would  seem  to  introduce  the 
apodosis  to  mox  cum.  But  there  is  no  connective  for  spectaueris 
if  coordinate  with  passa.  Burmann  suggested  that  spectaueris 
be  taken  directly  with  mox  cum  and  that  iam  ualidis  .... 
menses  be  considered  parenthetical.  Johnson  changed  spec- 
taueris to  spectauerit  and  this  correction  is  adopted  by  Baehrens 
and  Postgate.  But  the  sentence  becomes  extremely  awkward 
with  such  a  reading,  as  soon  as  time,  permitting  them  to  stand  firmly 
on  their  legs,  rolling  around  eight  months  from  their  birth,  has  beheld, 
etc.  Wernsdorf's  suggestion  that  spectaueris  ia  a  future  perfect 
with  future  force  and  forms  the  apodosis  to  mox  cum  is  the  only 
logical  solution  of  the  difficulty,  inlaesis  ....  membris  is 
not  a  repetition  of  ualidis  ....  cruribus  but  is  explained  by 
verses  165-171:  as  soon  as  time,  rolling  around  eight  months  from 
their  birth,  has  permitted  them  to  stand  firmly  on  their  legs,  you  will 
see  the  dogs  on  all  sides  with  limbs  unimpaired,  i.  e.  if  you  have  not 
kept  them  confined,  tunc  then  resumes  the  directions  for  the 
feeding,  at  that  age  it  will  be  suitable,  etc. 

175.  Cerealia  dona:  a  frequent  metaphor  with  Ovid;  cf. 
Fast.  I.  683;    6.  391.  Met.  11.  122. 

176.  DE  frugibl'S:  equivalent  to  an  appositional  genitive. 
The  use  of  de  with  the  ablative  instead  of  a  genitive  became  fre- 
quent in  late  Latin.  Sittl  notes  this  usage  as  one  of  the  features 
of  African  Latinity  {Lokale  Verschiedenheiten  der  lat.  Sprache, 
p.  126). 

177  f.     An  imitation  of  Vergil,  G.  3.  167: 

"ubi  libera  colla 
seruitio  adsuerint,  ipsis  e  torquibus  aptos 
junge  pares  et  coge  gradum  conferre  iuuencos." 
LIBERA  ....  colla:  Greek  accusative. 

178.  CONCORDES  ET  FERRE  GRADUS:  not  lo  keep  Step,  as  this 
would  be  a  strange  precept  for  the  training  of  hunting  dogs,  but 

64 


merely  to  advance  evenly  or  to  keep  together.  This  was  a  part  of 
their  training  since  they  were  kept  on  the  leash  until  the  scene  of 
hunting  was  reached.  Cf.  Ov.  Tr.  5.  9.  27:  "utque  canem 
pauidae  nactum  uestigia  ceruae — latrantem  frustra  copula  dura 
tenet."     Cf.  Xen.  Cyn.  6. 13-14. 

179.  Cf.  Ov.  Met.  I.  11:  "nee  noua  crescendo  reparabat 
comua  Phoebe."  bis  denos:  Xenophon  recommends  entering 
the  dogs  in  the  chase  at  an  age  of  eight  or  ten  months  (Cyn.  7.  6), 
while  Arrian  advises  an  age  of  eleven  months  (25.  i)  or  two  years 
(26.  I). 

180.  producere:  to  lead  forth  the  hounds  for  their  first 
lessons  in  coursing. 

181.  SAEPTOUE  NOUALi:  an  enclosed  field  i.  e.  that  the  young 
hounds  may  have  a  better  chance  to  catch  the  hare.  Xenophon 
notes  the  fact  that  hares  are  most  visible  when  crossing  ground 
which  has  been  tiimed  by  the  plough  (Cyn.  5.  18). 

182  flF.  From  the  following  description  of  the  training  of  the 
young  dogs,  it  seems  that  Nemesianus  is  treating  of  greyhounds. 
Greyhounds  pursue  their  quarry  by  sight  and  not  by  scent  and 
are  used  in  England  to  course  the  hare,  in  America  to  course  the 
jack  rabbit.  This  method  of  hunting  was  unknown  to  the  Greeks 
and  Romans  until  comparatively  late.  One  of  the  earliest  refer- 
ences in  literature  is  that  of  Ovid,  Met.  i.  533.  The  cants  Gallicus, 
whose  pursuit  of  the  hare  is  described  by  Ovid,  is  evidently  a 
greyhound.  Whether  the  Greeks  and  Romans  were  acquainted 
with  dogs  of  this  variety  at  an  earlier  date  is  a  matter  of  doubt. 
The  greyhound  figures  on  early  Egyptian  monuments  and  was 
used  in  Egypt  to  hunt  gazelles  and  ostriches  (see  O.  Keller,  Die 
Antike  Tierwelt,  I.  p.  loi).  The  famous  Cretan  hunting  dogs,  as 
seen  on  the  coins  of  Phaestum  and  Cydonia,  resemble  the  grey- 
hound but  the  Romans  make  no  distinction  between  their  method 
of  hunting  and  that  of  the  Spartan  and  Molossian  dogs.  Xeno- 
phon judges  these  Cretan  dogs  ferocious  enough  to  hunt  the  wild 
boar  (Cyn.  10.  i)  while  Arrian  bears  witness  that  they  hunted 
on  scent  (Cyn.  3.  i).  Xenophon  evidently  has  no  knowledge  of 
such  a  breed  of  dogs  as  the  greyhound  but  treats  only  of  the  keen- 
nosed  dogs  of  scent  and  of  the  savage  ones  used  for  attacking  wild 
beasts.  Because  of  Xenophon's  ignorance  of  the  greyhound, 
Arrian  wrote  his  Cynegctica  to  supplement  that  of  his  predecessor. 
He  describes  at  length  the  famous  Celtic  greyhounds,  the  uertragi, 

65 


and  treats  entirely  of  coursing  with  these  dogs.  In  his  time  then 
coursing  had  become  an  established  recreation.  Grattius  devotes 
a  few  verses  {203-5)  to  the  description  of  the  greyhound  but  in 
general  he  deals  with  the  canes  bellicosi  and  the  canes  sagaces.  It 
is  strange  that  Nemesianus,  if  he  is  dealing  entirely  with  the 
uerlragi  or  canes  Celtici,  nowhere  mentions  them  by  such  a  term. 
In  his  directions  for  breeding  he  selects  a  bitch  of  the  Spartan  or 
Molossian  breed  (v.  107).  We  must  then  assume  a  cross  breed  if 
we  are  to  regard  the  ueloces  calulos  as  of  the  greyhound  variety. 
The  ancients  were  not  at  all  averse  to  the  crossing  of  various 
breeds.  Ovid  refers  to  dogs  bred  of  a  Spartan  dam  and  Cretan 
sire  (Met.  3.  223)  and  the  Cretan  dogs,  as  we  have  seen,  were 
similar  to  the  greyhound.  Yet  the  Cynegetica  as  a  whole  is  not 
a  treatise  on  coursing  as  is  that  of  Arrian.  The  nets  which  are 
described  as  a  part  of  the  hunting  equipment  (299  ff.)  would  be 
unnecessary  in  such  a  case.  Arrian  thus  compares  hunting  and 
coursing  (24.4):  "Such  are  the  methods  of  coursing  adopted  by 
those  who  have  fleet  hounds  and  horses:  they  neither  ensnare 
the  animals  with  toils,  nets,  or  springs;  nor  employ,  in  short, 
any  other  tricks  or  wily  inventions  but  contend  with  them  in  a 
straight-forward  trial  of  speed."  Nemesianus  nowhere  indicates 
such  a  distinction  and  is  evidently  treating  of  hunting  in  general 
but  his  method  of  training  the  dogs  applies  especially  to  coursing. 
Arrian's  description  of  the  way  in  which  to  train  greyhounds  is 
entirely  similar  (25.  i),  while  Oppian  describes  quite  a  different 
method  of  teaching  hunting  dogs  to  follow  a  scent  (i.  481  ff.). 

182.  NON  UIRIBUS  AEQUis:  of  Unequal  strength.  For  the 
same  phrase  cf.  Nemes.  Eel.  3.  60. 

185.  NEC:  with  the  imperative,  rare  in  classical  poetry. 
moderamine:  this  is  the  reading  of  all  the  MSS.  but  is  changed 
to  moderamina  by  Baehrens  and  Postgate.  Johnson,  who  pro- 
posed this  correction,  understood  the  verse  to  mean:  do  not 
once  let  the  dogs  have  the  management  of  the  chase  (i.  e.  do  not  let 
them  forth  unrestrained)  htit  train  them  for  a  long  time  in  a  small 
valley  or  enclosed  field.  Stern  favored  the  retention  of  moderamine 
but  went  astray  in  his  interpretation:  "saepenumero  indulge 
catulis  i.  e.  patera  ut  quiescant  interdum  et  uires  queant  recoUi- 
gere."  Wernsdorf  correctly  interpreted  moderamine  as  the 
moderation  of  the  chase  and  explained:  "nee  semel  hoc  facito, 
ut  moderato,   quemadmodum  dixi,   cursu  catulorum  uiribus  e'\ 

66 


aetate  pareas  sed  saepius  ita  exerceto."  That  moderamine  means 
moderation  is  clear  from  the  preceding  verses  where  the  poet 
advises  that  the  hunting  ground  be  restricted  in  extent  and  the 
hare  inferior  in  strength  to  the  dogs,  airsus  is  not  the  object  of 
indulge  but  genitive  with  moderamine:  do  not  once  only  indulge  the 
dogs  with  moderation  in  coursing  but  train  them  frequently,  etc. 

1 86.  UALiDOs:     sc.  lepores. 

187.  munera:  the  conjecture  of  Ulitius  for  munere,  the 
reading  of  the  MSS.  Postgate  retains  munere  and  punctuates 
thus:  exerceto  diu  uenandi  munere,  cogens.  But  munera  is  much 
more  natural  then  laudem  as  the  object  of  discere. 

189.  CONSUETAE  ....  HORTAMINA  uocis:  the  urgings 
of  the  familiar  voice,  i.  e.  of  the  huntsman  or  of  the  magister 
whom  Grattius  describes  (328-36). 

190.  CURSUS  reuocent:  recall  the  chase;  a  somewhat  doubt- 
ful construction.  Burmann  proposed:  seu  rursus  reuocent.  The 
reading  should  probably  be  seu  cursu  reuocent.  The  structure  of 
the  sentence  would  then  be  logical  since  catulos  would  be  the 
object  understood  with  both  reuocent  and  iubeant:  whether  the 
orders  of  the  master  recall  them  from  the  course  or  bid  them  continue 
the  chase.     For  reuocare  with  the  ablative  cf .  Verg.  G.  4. 88. 

191  f.  Arrian  gives  similar  advice  in  regard  to  greyhounds 
(25.9):  "Some  one  should  follow  up  quickly  as  soon  as  the  hare 
is  caught,  before  the  dogs  are  gorged  with  her  blood.  Not  that 
the  flesh  of  a  hare  is  to  be  accounted  of  much  worth  by  a  person 
who  courses  for  the  beauty  of  the  sport,  but  it  is  a  bad  thing  to 
teach  a  greyhound  to  eat  a  hare."  Xenophon,  on  the  other  hand, 
recommends  that,  after  the  hare  is  caught,  the  carcass  be  given 
the  young  hounds  to  tear  in  pieces  (7.  9). 

192.  carpere:  has  the  force  of  discindere;  cf.  Ov.  Met.  10. 
43:     "nee  carpsere  iecur  uolucres." 

193.  This  verse  and  the  five  following  verses  are  an  obvious 
imitation  of  Verg.  G.  3.  67-71 : 

"subeunt  morbi  tristisque  senectus 
et  labor,  et  durac  rapit  inclementia  mortis, 
semper  erunt,  quarum  mutari  corpora  malis: 
semper  enim  refice  ac,  ne  post  amissa  rcquiras, 
anteueni  et  subolcm  armcnto  sortire  quotannis." 
REparare:     to  renew;    d.  Ov.  Met.  i.  363. 

67 


195~224.  The  poet  begins  a  general  discussion  of  the  diseases 
of  dogs  hut  devotes  most  of  his  attention  to  rabies  and  the  method 
of  curing  it.  Grattius  also  treats  of  the  different  maladies  with 
which  dogs  are  afflicted  but  there  is  httle  similarity  between  the 
two  poems.  Nemesianus  imitates  Vergil  directly  in  his  introduc- 
tion of  the  subject  while  Grattius  begins  in  a  quite  different 
fashion,  344: 

"haec  tua  militia  est.     quin  et  Mauortia  bello 
uolnera  et  errantis  per  tot  diuertia  morbos 
causasque  adfectusque  canum  tua  cura  tuerist." 
195.     SCABIES    ....    sordida:     cf.  Verg.  G.  3.  441,  ^Mr/jii 
.     .     .     scabies,     uenis:     cf.  cubili  v.   148. 

196  f.      MtTLTAMQUE  CANES      ....      DANT   STRAGEM:  mUSt 

be  taken  with  passive  significance.  In  order  to  remove  the  awk- 
w^ardness  of  the  expression,  Burmann  proposed  to  alter  it  thus: 
multamque  cani  discrimine  nulla  dal  stragem.  But  dant  stragem 
may  be  compared  with  Verg.  A.  2.  3 10,  dedit  ampla  ruinam  .  .  . 
dotnus. 

198.  SORTIRE  gregem:  sclect  the  pack,  suffecta  prole: 
by  supplying  new  stock;  cf.  Verg.  G.  3.  65:  "atque  aliam  ex  alia 
generando  suffice  prolem." 

199.  acidos  Bacchi  latices:  cf.  Verg.  G.  3.  509:  "profuit 
inserto  latices  infundere  cornu — Lenaeos."  Tritonide  oliua: 
oliuo  is  the  reading  of  the  MSS.,  oliua  of  the  Vulgate.  Postgate 
rejects  both,  suggesting  as  a  possible  emendation  leui,  or  olenti, 
the  conjecture  of  Schenkl.  TpiruvU,  as  Tpiroy^vfia,  was  an  epithet 
of  doubtful  origin  applied  to  Athena.  There  was  a  lake  Tritonis 
in  Libya  from  which,  according  to  an  old  legend,  the  goddess  was 
bom  (Herod.  4.  180).  There  was  also  a  spring  in  Arcadia  of  that 
name,  connected  by  legend  with  the  birth  of  Athena  (Paus.  8. 
26.  6).  This  feminine  patronymic  appears  frequently  in  Latin  as 
a  noun,  e.  g.  Stat.  Silv.  2.  7.  28;  Verg.  A.  2.  226.  But  it  also  is 
used  as  an  adjective — of  or  belonging  to  Athena;  cf.  Ov.  Her.  6.  47 : 
"quid  mihi  cum  Minyis,  quid  cum  Tritonide  pinu?"  Hence  the 
reading  of  the  Vulgate,  Tritonide  oliua,  the  olive  oj  Athena,  is 
probably  correct. 

201.  TEPiDOQUE  OSTENDERE  SOLI:  Serenus  Sammonicus, 
after  prescribing  remedies  for  the  mange,  adds  (6.  80):  "conue- 
nit  hinc  tepido  lita  tradere  corpora  soli."  Grattius  gives  similar 
advice,  421  ff, 

68 


202.  Ti>rEAS:  probably  the  same  as  the  ricini,  for  removing 
which  Varro  (R.  R.  2.  9.  14)  and  Columella  (7.  13.  i)  prescribe 
ointments,  candenti  ....  cultro:  i.  e.  heated  for 
cauterizing. 

203.  CAELESTi  CORRUPTO  siDERE:  stdus  was  explained  by 
Barth  as  the  air,  by  Wemsdorf  as  the  sky,  by  Stem  as  the  sun. 
Ulitius  thought  that  sidus  referred  to  a  constellation;  that  this 
constellation  was  designated  as  Cancer  by  the  description  of  the 
sun  in  verses  205-6  (he  compares  segues  radios  with  w.  157-8) 
and  as  Leo  by  verses  207-8.  But  verses  205-6  evidently  refer 
to  an  eclipse  of  the  sun  and  can  scarcely  be  a  description  of  the  sun 
when  entering  Cancer,  caelesti  corrupto  sidere  must  be  a  general 
term,  with  an  explanatory  instance  added  in  the  following  cum 
clause:  whether  this  emanates  from  a  tainted  heavenly  body,  when 
Phoebus  hurls  sluggish  rays  from  the  gloomy  sky,  etc.  The  eclipse 
of  the  sun  is,  then,  an  illustration  of  such  a  tainted  condition  of  the 
sky.  Pestilence  and  disease  were  frequently  attributed  to  poison- 
ous atmospheric  conditions.  Cf.  Verg.  G.  3.  478:  "hie  quondam 
morbo  caeli  miser anda  coorta  est — tempestas."  A.  3.  138: 
"corrupto  caeli  tractu."  Claudian  uses  the  same  phrase  as 
Nemesianus,  15.  40:     "crebras  corrupto  sidere  mortes." 

206.      ATTONITO  P.\LLENS  CAPUT  EXSERIT  ORBE:      pictures  the 

sun's  countenance  as  it  passes  from  beneath  the  eclipse.  Barth 
thought  that  orbi  should  be  read  and  that  attonito  orbi  referred  to 
the  earth  amazed  at  the  prodigy.  But  attonito  orbe  is  used  of  the 
orb  of  the  sun  astonished  at  suffering  the  eclipse:  puts  forth  a 
pallid  face  from  his  astonished  orb.  Such  an  expression — as  if  the 
sun  were  distinct  from  its  orb — is  not  unusual;  cf.  Verg.  G.  i .  442, 
medioque  refugerit  orbe;  Avian.  Arat.  1568,  medioque  recedens 
orbe. 

207  f.  MAGis:  see  note  on  verse  160.  leonis:  the  sun 
entered  Leo  at  the  hottest  season  of  the  year.  At  the  same  time 
the  dog  star  Sirius  rose  and  this  was  considered  especially  respon- 
sible for  the  rabies  of  dogs;  cf.  Pliny  N.  H.  2.  47.  47.  123 :  "arden- 
tissimo  autem  aestatis  tempore  exoritur  caniculae  sidus  sole 
primam  partem  leonis  ingrediente;"  2.  40.  40.  107:  "canes 
quidem  toto  eo  spatio  maxime  in  rabiem  agi  non  est  dubium." 
TERGA  ....  QUATIT:  cf.  Sen.  Ocd.  40:  "scd  ignes  auget 
aestiferi  canis — Titan,  leonis  terga  Nemeaei  prcmens." 

69 


2o8.  HOC:  so  indefinite  as  to  cause  difficulty  of  interpreta- 
tion. Ulitius  suggested  the  correction  hos  which  would  make 
Phoebus  the  subject  of  inuiscerat.  hoc  is  best  interpreted  as  the 
object  of  the  verb.  It  then  refers  to  lelale  periclum  which,  in  the 
form  of  a  neuter  pronoun,  is  the  subject  of  the  preceding  main  verb 
manat  and  object  understood  with  the  following  verb  exhalat. 
inuiscerat:  lit.  to  put  into  the  vitals;  post-classical,  canibus 
BLANDIS:  an  imitation  of  Verg.  G.  3.  496:  "hinc  canibus  blandis 
rabies  uenit." 

211.  CONCRESCUNT:  thicken.  SEMINA  FLAMMAE:  cf.  Verg. 
A.  6.  6,  semina  flammae. 

214.  prosilit:  "uermiculum  respicit  de  quo  Grat.  v.  387," 
Wernsdorf.  But  Nemesianus  has  made  no  mention  of  a  worm 
as  the  cause  of  hydrophobia,  although  Grattius  and  Pliny  both 
(N.  H.  29.  4.  32.  100)  treat  of  it.  The  subject  of  prosilit  is  the 
same  as  that  of  agitat.  The  poet  has  not  been  able  to  name 
definitely  the  cause  of  the  disease  or  what  it  is,  so  he  calls  it 
merely  a  deadly  evil  and  refers  to  it  throughout  by  a  neuter  pro- 
noun :  and  with  the  dark  poison  foaming  it  leaps  into  the  ferocious 
jaws.  Sterns'  translation  of  this  passage  is  admirable: 
"Was  es  auch  sei,  es  wuhlt  tief  under  dem  Herzen  das  Mark  auf, 
Und  in   den   grimmigen   Rachen,   bedeckt   mit   schwarzlichem 

Giftschaum 
Stiirtzt  es  hervor,  und  es  zwingt  zu  des  Zahn's  wuthflammenden 
Angriflf." 

216  f.  uiROSA  ....  castorea:  cf.  Verg.  G.  i.  58 ^ 
"uirosaque  Pontus  castorea."  Castoreum  is  a  reddish  brown 
substance  with  strong  odor  secreted  by  the  beaver.  Pliny  treats 
at  length  of  its  medicinal  qualities  (N.  H.  32.  3.  13.  26). 
domabis:  fig.  to  crush  or  powder.  After  drying,  the  castoreum 
forms  a  hard  substance. 

218.  Powdered  ivory  was  supposed  to  have  medicinal  value, 
(cf.    Pliny  N.  H.  28.  8.  24.  88;    Dioscor.  2.  61). 

220.  lactis  ....  fluores:  an  unusual  expression 
which  occurs  also  in  Names.  Eel.  3.  68:  "nox  iubet,  uberibus 
suadens  siccare  fluorem — lactis." 

221  f.  NON  cunctantes  haustus:  i.  e.  without  sticking  to 
the  throat  as  the  powder  of  castoreum  and  ivory  unmixed  with 
milk  would  do.  infundere  cornu  inserto:  cf.  Verg.  G.  3. 
509:    inserto     ....     infundere  cornu. 

70 


223-  BLANDAS  ....  COMPONERE  MENTEs:  blandas  is 
used  proleptically. 

224-238.  The  poet  touches  briefly  upon  the  various  breeds  of 
dogs  and  their  characteristics  but  promises  to  enlarge  upon  the 
subject  later. 

224.  See  note  on  verse  122. 

225.  PASCENDUM  CATULOs:  the  impersonal  gerundive  with 
object  in  the  accusative  is  used  in  early  and  in  late  Latin.  Although 
rare  in  the  classical  period,  it  occurs  frequently  in  Varro  who  holds 
to  the  old-fashioned  usages  (see  Kuhner-Stegmann,  Ausf.  lat. 
Gramm.  2^  p.  734). 

226.  UELOCES:  Grattius  describes  the  British  dogs  as  of  poor 
appearance  but  remarkable  courage  (175  ff.).  Oppian  praises 
their  powers  of  scent  and  their  courage  (i.  468  flf.). 

227.  Pannonicae  ....  STiRPis  ORiGo:  the  lineage  of 
the  Pannonian  breed.  The  combination  of  a  substantive  with 
synonymous  genitive  was  one  of  the  pleonasms  of  the  tumor 
Africus  (see  Sittl,  Lokale  Verschiedenheiten  der  lat.  Sprache,p.g2). 
The  Pannonian  dogs  stand  at  the  head  of  Oppian's  list  of  the  well 
known  breeds  (i.  371). 

228.  DE  SANGUINE  ....  HiBERO:  it  is  doubtful 
whether  these  Iberian  dogs  were  from  the  Iberia  of  Asia  or  of 
Europe.  The  Iberians  of  Asia  were  neighbors  of  the  Albanians 
and  Strabo  tells  us  that  the  people  of  this  region  were  extremely 
fond  of  hunting  (11.  4.  5).  Oppian  mentions  the  Iberian  dogs 
(i.  371)  but  throws  no  light  on  the  question  of  their  geographical 
habitat. 

229  f.  That  Nemesianus  alone  is  acquainted  with  the  Libyan 
dogs  is  perhaps  another  indication  that  he  was  a  native  of  Africa. 
These  Libyan  dogs  are  not  to  be  identified  with  the  Egyptian 
dogs  which  Oppian  mentions,  since  he  describes  them  as  watch 
dogs  (i.  374). 

231   ff.     These  Etruscan  dogs   are   evidently  similar    to    the 
Umbrian  described  by  Grattius  thus,  171: 
"at  fugit  aduersos  idem  quos  repperit  hostis 

Umber:     quanta  fides,  utinam,  et  sollcrtia  naris 

tanta  foret  uirtus  ct  tantum  uellet  in  armis." 
Nemesian's  careful  description  of  the  ability  of  these  dogs  to 
follow  a  scent  and  the  fact  that  he  says  they  are  unlike  the 

71 


catulis  uelocibus  is  another  argument  in  favor  of  considering  that 
the  caluli  ueloces  are  greyhounds. 

233.  DISSIMILESQUE      ....      CATl'LIS    UELOCIBUS   ARTUS: 

compendiary  comparison. 

234.  haud:  In  the  period  of  late  Latin  hand  rarely  appears. 
By  many  writers  of  the  third  century  A.  D. — e.  g.  Cypr.,  Corn- 
mod.,  Min.  Fcl. — it  was  completely  neglected  (see  Planer,  Dehaud 
et  haudquaquam  negationum ,  p.  18).  praedae:  praeda,  the  read- 
ing of  the  MSS.  and  of  the  Aldine  edition  is  impossible;  praedae, 
the  correction  of  Barth  and  Ulitius,  is  an  epexegetic  genitive  (cf. 
Drager,  Syntax,  i.  p.  466). 

235.  ODORATO  ....  PRATO:  Wernsdorf  explains:  "quod 
odorem  ferarum  uestigiis  inhaerentem  seruat.  Gratius  v.  223 
uocat  'signa  uapore  ferino  intemerata.'  "  Ulitius,  interpreting  in 
the  same  fashion,  compares  Verg.  A.  4.  132,  odora  canum  uis. 
But  odorato  does  not  necessarily  refer  to  the  scent  of  the  wild 
beast.  It  may  be  interpreted  simply  as  fragrant.  Xenophon 
speaks  of  the  difficulty  of  following  a  scent  in  the  spring  because 
of  the  perfume  of  the  flowers  and  growing  things  (Cyn.  5.  5). 
Hence  the  poet  is  emphasizing  the  skill  of  the  Etruscan  dogs  when 
he  says  that  they  follow  the  trail  even  in  the  fragrant  meadow. 

237.  NARESQUE  SAGACES:  keen  scent,  the  distinctive  quality 
of  dogs  of  this  type.  So  the  XJmbrian  is  described  by  Silius  Italicus, 
3.  295:     "aut  exigit  Umber — nare  sagax  e  calle  feras." 

238-298.  The  horses  and  hunting  equipment  have  not  yet 
been  touched  upon.  The  poet  turns  first  to  a  discussion  of  the 
horses. 

240.  CORNIPEDES:  cornipes  appearing  at  first  only  as  an 
epithet  of  the  horse  (Verg.  A.  7.  779;  6.  591),  later  came  to  be 
used  as  a  substantive.  Silius  and  Statius  use  it  most  frequently 
thus  (see  Rittweger,  Die  poetischen  A  usdriicke  fur  Pferd,  A  rchiv 
f.  lat.  Lexikogr.  7.  p.  326).  Graecia:  the  horses  of  Greece, 
especially  those  of  Argolis,  Elis,  Thessaly,  and  Epirus,  were  highly 
valued  in  antiquity  (see  O.  Keller,  Die  Antike  Tierwelt,  i.  pp. 
227-9).  Grattius  discusses  in  more  detail  the  various  breeds  of 
horses,  497  S. 

241.  Cappadocumque:  the  Cappadocian  horses  were  espec- 
ially famous.  Vegetius,  Mulom.  3.  6.  4,  says:  "curribus  Cappa- 
docum  gloriosa  nobilitas,  Hispanorum  par  uel  proxima  in  circo 

72 


creditur  palma."  Oppian  describes  them  as  swift,  spirited,  and 
especially  suitable  for  hunting  (Cyn.  i.  198  ff.)-  notas:  dis- 
tinguishing characteristics;  so  Grattius,  497:  "restat  equos 
finirenotis."  referat:  reproduce;  cf.  Verg.  G.  3.  128:  "inuali- 
dique  patrum  referant  ieiunia  nati." 

242.  This  verse,  which  is  obviously  corrupt  in  the  MSS., 
seems  to  defy  any  satisfactory  emendation.  Some  of  the  early 
editors  (UHt.  and  Burm.)  merely  changed  to  palmis:  fortified 
with  the  recent  victories  of  their  sires.  Gronovius  suggested  the 
following  correction:  armenti  et  palmas  numeret  grex  omnis 
auorum.  But  armenti,  which  must  limit  propago,  seems  redun- 
dant. Wernsdorf  decided  that  armata  was  the  Greek  word 
ipfiara,  used  by  the  poet  for  currus  in  the  sense  of  chariot  victory. 
He  would  then  read  the  verse  with  the  numeret  of  Gronovius: 
Harmataque  et  palmas  numeret  grex  omnis  auorum.  Since  no 
similar  use  of  dpfiara  is  found  in  Latin,  this  interpretation  is  not 
satisfactory.  Stem  proposed  the  following  reading:  armata  ut 
palmis  superat  grex  omnis  auorum,  and  interpreted  thus:  "Cap- 
padocum  notas  et  insignia  monstret  generosa  propago,  sicut  olim 
auorum  grex  palmis  fuit  insignita  et  inter  relicuos  eminet." 
Postgate's  suggestion,  superet,  seems  to  be  the  logical  word  to 
replace  nuper  since  we  then  have  a  verb  parallel  to  referat  and 
governing  palmas.  The  latter  part  of  the  verse  is  then  satisfac- 
tory in  meaning:  let  every  herd  surpass  the  palms  of  their  sires, 
palma,  referring  to  victory-  in  the  races,  is  frequently  used  to  indi- 
cate the  merits  of  a  horse;  cf.  Grattius,  531 :  "quos  signat  Achaia 
palma;"  Verg.  G.  i.  59:  "Eliadum  palmas  Epiros  cquarum." 
But  although  the  correction  of  nuper  to  superet  seems  fairly  cer- 
tain, armata  remains  as  the  major  difficulty.  If  one  more  might 
be  added  to  the  numerous  proposed  corrections,  none  of  which 
seems  entirely  satisfactory,  I  would  suggest  praemiaque  et  palmas 
superet  grex  omnis  auorum;  an  imitation  indeed  of  Verg.  G.  3.  49: 
"seu  quis  Olympicae  miratus  praemia  palmae — pascet  cquos." 
In  view  of  the  numerous  passages  in  which  Nemcsianus  has  fol- 
lowed closely  the  third  Georgic,  such  an  imitation  would  not  be 
strange  here. 

243  ff.  This  description  of  a  thoroughbred  horse  is  especially 
similar  to  that  of  Vergil,  G.  3.  79  ff.,  and  to  that  of  Oppian,  Cyn. 
I.  178  ff- 

243.     AMi'LA     ....     AKc^loka:     broad,  lei'cl  surfaces. 


244-  IMMODICUMQUE  LATUS:  cf.  Verg.  G.  3.  54:  "turn  longo 
nullus  lateri  modus." 

245  f.  ARDUA  FRONS:  cf.  Verg.  G.  3.  79:  "illi  ardua  ceruix — 
argutumque  caput."  auresque  agiles:  Vergil  expresses  the 
same  thought  by  micat  auribus,  G.  3.  84.  capitisque  decori 
ALTUS  HONOs:  the  high-held  grace  of  a  splendid  head,  capitisque 
decori  is  Baehrens'  correction  of  the  reading  of  A,  capitisque 
decoris;  capitique  decoro,  the  reading  of  C  and  of  the  Aldine 
edition,  breaks  the  logical  structure  of  the  sentence. 

246.  ocuLiQUE  uago  splendore  micantes:     cf.  0pp.  Cyn.  I. 

183:      6fifj.a  Topdf,  TTVpawirbv,  iwi(TKViiloi(Ti.  ia<poivbv. 

247.  plurima  ....  CERtiix:  a  powerful  neck;  cf. 
Verg.  G.  3.  51:  "optuma  toruae — forma  bonis,  cui  turpe  caput 
cui  plurima  ceruix." 

248.  Cf.  Verg.  G.  3.  85:  "collectumque  premcns  uoluit  sub 
naribus  ignem." 

249  f.  UNGULA  terram  CREBRA  ferit:  cf.  Verg.  G.  3.  499: 
"et  pede  terram — crebra  ferit."  crebra  may  be,  as  in  the  passage 
from  Vergil,  the  neuter  adjective  as  an  inner  object,  used  adver- 
bially, but  more  probably  limits  ungula  with  adverbial  force. 

250.  uirtusque  artus  animosa  fatigat:  his  spirited  mettl^ 
wearies  his  limbs. 

251  f.  gens:  used  figuratively  for  region  or  country,  trans 
ardua  Calpes  culmina:  Calpe,  the  modem  rock  of  Gibraltar, 
formed  one  of  the  ancient  pillars  of  Hercules.  The  southern 
pillar,  on  the  African  coast,  was  called  Abyla  (see  Avien.  Perieg. 
106  ff.).  Nemesianus  is  evidently  in  Africa  since  he  refers  to  the 
Spaniards  as  situated  beyond  Calpe. 

253.  Oppian  praises  the  Spanish  horses  especially  for  their 
fieetness,  comparing  them  in  this  respect  with  the  eagle,  the  hawk, 
or  the  dolphin  (Cyn.  i.  278  ff.). 

255.  spirabile  flumen:  flumen  must  be  the  correct  reading 
although  A,  B,  and  the  Aldine  edition  have  numen'.  and  puffing 
they  roll  forth  mighty  blasts,  a  river  of  breath.  Cf.  Val.  Flac.  7.  571 : 
"taurus  et  immani  proflauit  turbine  flammas 

arduus  atque  atro  uoluens  incendia  fluctu." 

256.  ET  lumina  uiuida  torquent:  cf.  Verg.  G.  3.  433, 
fiammantia  lumina  torquens. 

74 


257-  TREMULl:  quivering  or  restless,  as  Vergil's  tremit  artus, 
G.  3.  84. 

258.  NEC  SEGNES  MULCENT  AURES:  Stem  interpreted  mtd- 
cent  aures  as  uehementer  agitant,  comparing  the  use  of  mulcere 
in  Lucr.  4.  139:  "nubes  aera  mulcentes  motu."  Such  an  inter- 
pretation is  directly  opposed  to  the  natural  meaning  of  mulcere. 
From  the  meaning  to  make  quiet  or  compose  (of.  Verg.  A.  i.  66, 
mulcere  ....  fluctus)  it  here  acquires  the  significance  to 
droop :  nor  do  they  lazily  droop  their  ears.  So  remulcere  is  used  by 
Vergil,  A.  II.  812:  "caudamque  remulcens — subiecit  pauitantem 
utero  siluasque  petiuit."  Cf.  Ap.  Met.  7.  16,  remulsis  auribus,  of 
the  ears  laid  back  close  to  the  head. 

259.  SONIPES:  poetical  as  cornipes  (see  Rittweger,  Die 
poetischen  Ausdriicke  fur  Pferd,  Archiv  f.  lat.  Lexikogr.  7.  p.  326). 
Maurusia  tellus:  Oppian  praises  the  Mauretanian  horses  for 
their  speed  and  endurance  (Cyn.  i.  289).  The  testimony  of 
Nemesianus  and  Oppian,  in  regard  to  the  horses  of  Mauretania,  is 
interesting  since  from  this  region  came  the  Barbary  horse,  the 
progenitor  of  the  English  thoroughbred. 

260.  MODO  sit:  may  be  either  a  clause  of  proviso  or  a  paren- 
thetical jussive  subjunctive.  Such  a  use  illustrates  clearly  the 
development  of  clauses  of  proviso  from  jussive  and  prohibitive 
subjunctives  (see  Bennett,  Syntax  of  Early  Latin,  i.  p.  268). 
GENTiLi  sanguine  firmus:     i.  e.  of  pure  native  stock. 

261.  The  Mazaces  were  a  people  of  Mauretania.  coloratus: 
swarthy;  an  epithet  applied  by  Vergil  also  to  the  Ethiopians, 
G.  4.  292,  coloratis  .  .  .  .  ab  Jndis;  cf.  Ov.  Am.  i.  14.  6: 
colorati     ....     Seres. 

263  ff .  Livy  also  describes  the  poor  appearance  of  the  Numi- 
dian  horses,  which  were  ridden  without  bridles,  35.  11.  7:  "nihil 
primo  adspectu  contemptius;  equi  hominesque  paululi  et  graciles, 
discinctus  et  inermis  eques  ....  equi  sine  frenis,  deformis 
ipse  cursus  rigida  ceruice  et  extento  capitc  currentium." 

264.     OLLis:      an    archaism;     see     note    on    laceam    v.  69. 
infrenes:     the  Moorish   custom  of  riding  the  horse  without  a 
bridle  is  frequently  mentionec;    cf.  Claud.   15.  439:     "Sonipes 
ignarus  habenae; — uirga  regit."     Luc.  4.  682: 
''et  gens,  quae  nudo  residens  Massylia  dorso 

ora  leui  flectit  frenorum  nescia  uirga." 
utekc^ue:     i.  e.  both  the  Maurentanian  and  Mazacian  horses. 

75 


265.  deuerberet:  the  reading  of  A  and  B,  diuerberet  of  C 
and  the  Aldine  edition.  Wernsdorf  explained  diuerberet  thus: 
"significarc  nidctur,  utrimque  uerbcrct  quasi  sit  compositum  ut 
dilogia,  diucrbium,  dispicio."  But  such  an  interpretation  of 
diuerberet  is  doubtful  since  it  regularly  means  to  cleave  or  divide, 
deuerberet,  the  reading  of  A  and  B,  is  to  be  preferred,  since 
deuerberare  occurs  in  Terence  with  the  meaning  to  thrash  soundly 
(Phorm.  327).  From  the  context  it  is  clear  that  the  verb,  in  this 
passage,  means  to  lash:  the  neck  lashes  with  the  mane  the  sloping 
shoulders.  The  subjunctive  mood  of  deuerberet  cannot  be 
explained  as  due  to  any  difference  between  the  nature  0/  this  quod 
clause  and  the  preceding  one  which  has  the  indicative.  Such 
change  of  mood  in  dependent  clauses  of  apparently  the  same 
significance  is  found  occasionally  in  poetry,  e.  g.  Prop.  4.  4.  10; 
2.  16.  29.  (See  Dressier,  Construclionswechsel  und  Inconcinnitdt 
bei  den  romischen  Historikern,  p.   14,  note.) 

266.  LASCIUAQUE  COLLA  SECfTUS:  when  a  bridle  is  used,  the 
horse's  head  is  first  turned  in  the  direction  in  which  the  rider 
wishes  him  to  go;  so  he  may  be  said  .iterally  to  follow  his  neck. 
Similarly  these  horses,  which  were  ridden  without  bridles,  were 
guided  by  the  touch  of  a  switch  upon  the  head ;  cf .  Sil.  Ital.  1.215: 
"hie  passim  exultant  Numidae,  gens  inscia  freni, 

quis  inter  geminas  per  ludum  mobilis  aures 

quadrupedem  flectit  non  cedens  uirga  lupatis." 
lasciua   pictures    the   freedom   from   the   restraint   of   a   bridle. 
COLLA:     a   poetical   plural    (see    Maas,    Stzidien   zum   poetischen 
Plural,  Archiv  f.  lat.  Lexikogr.  12.  p.  541). 

267.  IN  obsequium:  denotes  the  result  of  the  action  of  the 
verb:  obeys  to  the  point  of  ready  compliance  under  the  control  of 
the  pliant  switch.  (For  such  uses  of  in  with  the  accusative  see 
Kuhner-Stegmann,  Ausf.  lat.  Cramm.  2'.  p.  567  d.) 

268.  Ausonius  refers  to  these  words  of  Nemesianus,  Grat.  Act. 
27:  "mirabamur  poetam,  qui  infrenos  dixerat  Numidas  (Verg. 
A.  4.  41),  et  ilium  alterum,  qui  ita  coUegerat  ut  diceret  in  equi- 
tando  uerbera  et  praecepta  esse  fugae  et  praecepta  sistendi." 

269.  PROMissi :  Wernsdorf  joined  with  cam  pi  and  interpreted 
as  longi,  porrecli,  patentis.  But  promissi  with  this  meaning  would 
be  unusual,  since  it  is  usually  applied  to  the  hair  or  beard;  it 
would  also  be  redundant  with  campi  after  the  epithet  spatiosa. 
Heinsius  and  Burmann  corrected  promissi  to  permissi,  comparing 

76 


Grattius,  227:  "spatiis  qualis  permissa  Lechaeis — Thessalium 
quadriga  decus."  But  why  should  we  not  interpret  promissi, 
according  to  its  component  parts,  as  sent  forth?  A  similar  use 
occurs  in  Lucretius  4.  681:  "tum  fissa  ferarum — ungula  quo 
tulerit  gressum  promissa  canum  uis — ducit."  Munro,  in  his 
fourth  edition  of  Lucretius,  retains  the  promissa  of  the  MSS., 
following  N.  P.  Howard  who  first  championed  the  retention  of 
promissa,  with  the  force  of  emissa  or  porrotenus  missa,  and  cited 
appositively  Nemes.  Cyn.  269  {Journal  of  Phil.  i.  p.  131).  W.  A. 
Merrill  also  reads  promissa  and  compares  Pliny  16.  107:  "nee 
ulla  arborum  auidius  se  promittit." 

271.  AUIDOS:     i.  e.  eager  to  win. 

272  fif.  The  introduction  of  this  highly  poetical  simile  is  scarcely 
in  accord  with  the  prosaic  style  of  the  rest  of  the  poem.  Nemesia- 
nus  is  imitating  Vergil  who  compares  the  swiftness  of  the  horse  to 
Aquilo  (G.  3.  196  flF.). 

272.  Nerei:     with  synizesis  as  Verg.  A.  8.  383;    10.  764. 

273.  Boreas  dwelt  in  a  cave  of  Mt.  Haemus  in  Thrace  (Callim. 
Hymn,  in  Del.  63);  hence  the  epithet  Thracian  is  frequent. 
superextulit:  an  unusual  compound.  Pinder  thought  that 
super  had  the  meaning  above — beside  the  other  winds,  to  mark  the 
superior  power  of  Boreas.  The  verb  probably  means  no  more 
than,  has  lifted  himself  up  from  his  cave. 

274.  exterruit:     i.  e.  has  roused  up  ot  ruffled. 

275.  cesserunt:  gnomic  perfect,  as  frequently  in  compari- 
sons in  order  to  represent  the  action  more  vividly  (see  Kuhner- 
Stegmann,  Ausf.  lat.  Gramm.  2',  p.  132):  all  the  winds  withdraw 
from  the  turbulent  deep.  This  is  the  main  point  of  the  poet's 
comparison  but  he  continues  the  picture  and  we  infer  that  Boreas 
sweeping  over  the  waves  is  to  be  compared  with  the  horse  sweep- 
ing on  to  victory  after  he  has  vanquished  his  rivals. 

276  f.  SUPER  FLUCTUS:  Baehrcns  reads  pater  fluctus,  i.  e. 
Neptune,  presumably  considering  this  passage  an  imitation  of 
Verg.  A.  I.  127,  where  Neptune  is  described:  "et  alto — pros- 
piciens  summa  placidum  caput  extulit  unda."  But  the  poet  is 
describing  Boreas  and  there  is  no  confusion  in  the  figure  if  we 
consider  Boreas  the  subject  of  eminet.  For  Boreas  is  not  pictured 
as  thrusting  forth  his  head  from  the  sea  after  arising  from  his 
Thracian  cave  (v.  273),  although  G.  Curcio  considers  that  the 

77 


simile  is  thus  confused  {Rivista  di.  Fil.  27.  p.  458).  But  we  are 
rather  to  sec  him  as  a  god  sweeping  furiously  over  the  sea  in  the 
midst  of  the  foaming  waves,  pelago  is  not  to  be  joined  with 
eminet  but  with  conspicuum:  he  towers  over  the  waves  with  head  far 
seen  upon  the  deep,  spumanti  murmure:  with  foaming  blast; 
supmanti,  an  epithet  descriptive  of  the  wind's  effect  upon  the 
waves,  is  transferred  to  the  wind. 

277.  CONSPICUUM  ....  caput:  Greek  accusative.  Cf. 
Hor.  C.  3.  16.  19,  late  conspicuum  tollere  uerticem. 

278.  All  the  throng  of  Nereids  are  dazed,  admiring  him  as  he 
passes  over  their  waters,  euntem  may  be  taken  as  the  object  of 
mirata  or  of  stupet  used  transitively. 

279  f.  The  strength  of  the  African  horses  matures  slowly  but 
lasts  even  in  old  age. 

280.  etiam:  probably  to  be  taken  as  a  connective,  and  at 
the  same  time,  rather  than  with  emerito.  EMERITO  .... 
aeuo:     veteran  old  age. 

281.  uiRTUS:  applies  to  both  mental  and  physical  excellence, 
suis  ....  ANNis:in  its  own  time,  i.  e.  at  the  proper  time 
or  at  maturity.  The  poet  implies  that  precocious  development  is 
not  lasting. 

282.  EST     ....     passa:     gnomic  perfect. 

284.  UENAMQIE  FERi:  cf.  Verg.  G.  3.  460,  ferire  .... 
salientem  sanguine  uenam.  Vegetius  describes  at  length  the 
method  of  bleeding  animals,  Mulom.  i.  22.  ueteresque 
LABORES:     i.  e.  previous  defects  or  diseases. 

285.  aspecta:     a  rare  use  with  the  infinitive. 

286.  MOx:     soon  thereafter. 

287.  DISTENTO  robore:  "id  est  diffuso  in  uenas  ct  artus  bono 
succo,  ex  quo  robur,"  Wemsdorf.  But  distento  does  not  have  the 
meaning  diffused.  The  epithet  should  be  properly  applied  to  the 
limbs,  i.  e.  filled  out  with  strength  or  vigor.  So  Vergil  uses  dis- 
tendere  of  fattening  a  horse,  G.  3.  124:  "impendunt  curas  denso 
distendere  pingui."  With  the  epithet  transferred  to  robore  we 
can  only  translate :     and  molds  the  sleek  limbs  with  increased  vigor. 

288  f.  uiarum  longa:  this  use  of  an  adjective  with  partitive 
genitive,  instead  of  adjective  and  noun,  was  frequent  in  Greek 
poetry  but  rare  in  Latin  (see  Kuhner-Stegmann,  Ausf.  lat. 
Cramm.  2'.  p.  425). 

78 


292.  CULMOSQUE  ARMARiT  ARiSTis:  the  reading  of  the  MSS. 
is  culmusque  armarit  aristas.  But  what  could  be  the  meaning  of 
such  a  clause  as,  when  the  stalk  has  armed  the  ears  of  grain?  The 
logical  order  of  thought  seems  exactly  reversed.  Dracontius 
phrases  the  idea  as  we  expect  it,  Rom.  3.  3: 
"nam  rore  maritat 

arua  suo  uel  sole  fouet  uel  temperat  aestus 

alter  nans  elementa  potens,  ut  reddat  et  umbras 

montibus  arboreis  et  culmos  armet  aristis." 
By  our  change  in  the  reading  of  the  MSS.,  aestas  becomes  the 
subject  of  armarit  and  the  whole  passage,  as  a  description  of  sum- 
mer, is  much  improved:  when  summer  has  hardened  the  green 
stems  and,  parching  the  milky  blades,  has  dried  all  the  sap  from  the 
harvest  and  has  armed  the  stalks  with  the  spikes  of  grain,  then 
remember,  etc. 

294.  puluere:     perhaps  chaff. 

295.  Cabaret- Dupaty  interpreted  toros  as  the  litter  for  the 
horses:  "Formez-leur  une  fraiche  litiere."  In  view  of  the  con- 
text this  is  absurd.  The  poet  is  advising  that  the  horses  be  rubbed 
down :  take  care  to  run  your  hand  over  the  swelling  muscles  of  the 
horses. 

296.  PLAUSU:  slapping  the  animal  as  a  caress,  plaudo  is 
used  with  this  significance;  cf.  Verg.  G.  3.  186:  "et  plausae 
sonitum  ceruicis  amare."  A.  12.  85:  "manibusque  lacessunt — 
pectora  plausa  cauis." 

297.  ALTORES:  rare  as  an  adjective,  sucos:  cf.  forlibus 
sucis,  V.  155. 

298.  COMITUMQUE  ANiMOSA  luuENTUs:  the  hunting  com- 
panions. Wernsdorf  thought  that  these  were  the  same  as  the 
socios  of  Grattius,  v.  335,  but  Grattius  is  evidently  referring  to 
the  dogs. 

299-325.  The  nets  and  feathers  for  the /ormtt/o  are  an  impor- 
tant part  of  the  hunting  equipment.  After  touching  upon  these, 
the  poet  is  ready  to  depict  the  actual  pleasures  of  the  chase.  But 
at  this  point  the  poem  ends  abruptly. 

299.  NEC  NON  et:  such  a  pleonastic  conjunction  of  particles 
is  noted  by  Sittl  {Lokale  Verschiedenheiten  der  lal.  Sprache,  p.  98) 
and  by  Kiibler  (Die  lat.  Sprache  auf  afrikan.  Inschriften,  8.  p.  181) 
as  frequent  in  African  Latinity.     But  nee  nan  el  occurs  in  the 

79 


classical  period  and  is  used  especially  by  Vergil  (e.  g.  G.  2.  53; 
A.  I.  707,  748)  whom  Nemesianus  is  probably  imitating  in  its  use. 

299  ff.  Xcnophon,  Cyn.  6.  5-10,  describes  three  varieties  of 
hunting  nets.  The  SIktvov,  whichwas  used  to  enclose  large  tracts 
of  country,  corresponded  to  the  Latin  rete.  Nemesianus  indicates 
this  distinction  by  his  words  longoque  meantia  relia  tractu.  The 
ApKvs,  or  tunnel  net,  was  made  with  a  bag  into  which  the  wild 
beast  was  driven.  The  cassis  was  evidently  similar.  Seneca 
describes  the  efforts  of  a  wild  beast  to  escape  from  its  entangling 
meshes,   Agam.  892: 

"ut  altis  hispidus  siluis  aper 

cum  casse  uinctus  temptat  egressus  tamen 

artatque  motu  uincla  et  in  cassum  furit." 
Grattius  describes  the  construction  of  the  cassis,  28  ff.  The 
ivbSwv,  or  road  net,  was  comparatively  small  and  was  placed 
across  roads  or  paths  to  prevent  the  quarry  from  escaping. 
Since  Nemesianus  names  three  specific  kinds  of  nets,  the  plaga 
was  probably  the  same  as  the  ivbSiov,  although  we  have  no  definite 
information  as  to  its  form  and  it  is  frequently  used  as  a  general 
term  for  hunting  nets;  cf.  Hor.  C.  i.  i.  28;  Ep.  2.  32.  (On  the 
subject  of  hunting  nets,  see  Yates,  Texlrinum  Antiquorum,  p.  412 
ff. ;  Blumner,  Romische  Privat-Altertumer,  p.  517  ff.) 

300.  LONGOQUE  MEANTIA  RETIA  TRACTU:  the  nets  Were 
extended  in  a  curved  line  of  considerable  length  and  into  this 
space  the  animals  were  driven.  For  a  similar  phrase  cf.  Grattius, 
219,  nee  uasa  tenentia  longe. 

302.      SERUARE  MODUM  MACULIS  LINOQUE  TENACI:      tO  keep  the 

meshes  and  threads  the  correct  size.  The  threads  were  composed 
of  several  strands,  the  number  of  which  depended  on  the  kind  of 
net.  Concerning  the  size  of  the  meshes  and  threads  for  various 
nets,  see  Xenophon,  Cyn.  2.  4-5;  10.  2.  Pliny  tells  us  of  nets 
made  from  the  flax  of  Cumae  in  which  the  threads  were  composed 
of  150  strands  (N.  H.  19.  i.  2.  11). 

303  ff.  When  the  nets  were  set  up  they  were  flanked  by  cords, 
lineae,  to  which,  as  well  as  to  the  nets,  feathers  of  bright  color 
were  attached.  These  frightened  the  game  and  drove  it  on  into 
the  nets.  This  arrangement  was  called  the  formido;  cf.  Sen. 
Dial.  4.  II.  5:  "nee  mirum  est,  cum  maximos  ferarum  greges 
linea  permis  distincta  contineat,  et  in  insidias  agat,  ab  ipso  effectu 
dicta  formido."     Verg.  A.  12.  750: 

80 


"ceruom  aut  puniceae  saeptum  formidine  pennae 
uenator  cxirsu  canis  et  latratibus  instat." 
Grattius  gives  a  description  of  the  formido,  75  ff. ;    Oppian,  Cyn. 
4.  384  ff. 

304.  tOLUCRESQUE     METU    CONXLUDERE     PR:\EDAS:      cf.     Sen. 

Phaedr.   46:     "picta  rubenti  linea  pinna — uano  cludat  terrore 
feras." 

305.  The  linea  should  have  feathers  from  different  kinds  of 
birds  arranged  upon  it  {digerat)  and  fastened  to  it  {innexas). 

306.  The  formido  was  designed  especially  to  catch  the  stag 
but  Grattius  (85-8)  as  well  as  Nemesianus  asserts  that  it  was 
used  for  other  wild  beasts. 

307  f.  The  feathers  by  their  brilliancy  frighten  them  as  the 
Ughtning  flashes  of  the  sky. 

308.  LiNiQUE  ...  .  saeptum:  the  general  term  for  the 
whole  enclosure,  embracing  both  net  and  formido,  was  indago;  cf. 
Verg.  A.  4.  121:  "dum  trepidant  alae  saltusque  indagine 
cingunt."  lini:  linum,  properly  the  thread  of  the  net,  was 
used  frequently  by  metonymy  for  the  net;  cf.  Ov.  Met.  7.  807, 
Una     ....     nodosa. 

309.  UARio  .  .  .  UENENO:  with  dyes  of  various  color. 
Grattius  also  advises  dying  the  feathers,  85:  "ast  ubi  lentae — 
interdum  Libyco  fucantur  sandyce  pennae." 

310.  cuRABis:  the  reading  of  the  MSS.,  cura  tibi,  is  faulty 
since  the  full  expression  should  be  cura  tibi  sit  or  at  least  cura  sit. 
curabis  is  the  correction  of  Haupt  (see  Opusc.  i.  p.  403). 

311.  tendere:  tempore  is  the  reading  of  the  MSS.,  tendere, 
the  correction  of  Ulitius.  alternosque  metus:  has  reference 
to  the  white  and  colored  feathers  placed  alternately.  Grattius 
advises  mingling  the  feathers  of  the  vulture  with  those  of  the 
swan  and  adds,  80:     "meliusque  altema  ualet  res."     subtemine 

.  LONGO:  figure  taken  from  weaving.  The  cord  to 
which  the  feathers  were  attached  represents  the  woof  or  thread 
woven  across  the  warp. 

312.  The  feathers  of  the  vulture  were  considered  especially 
effective  for  the  formido  because  of  their  smell;  cf.  Grattius,  79: 
"at  uolture  dirus  ab  atro — turbat  odor  siluas."  Luc.  4.  437: 
"sic  dum  pauidos  formidine  ceruos — claudat  odoratae  metucntis 
aera  pennae." 

81 


313-  MAGNARUM  AUiuM:  perhaps  ostriches,  since  these 
mighty  birds  were  found  especially  in  the  plains  and  deserts  of 
Africa.     (See  O.  Keller,  Die  Antike  TierweU,  2.  p.  171.) 

314.     CYCNIQUE  SENEs:     cf.  plumantque  senilem,  v.  37. 

315  f.  The  wading  birds,  such  as  storks,  herons,  and  flamin- 
goes, would  be  especially  valuable  for  their  plumage. 

316.  PELLiTOSQUE  PEDES:  webbed  feet,  as  most  oi  the  viaders 
have.  Pliny  uses  the  term  palmipedes  in  reference  to  the  aquatic 
birds  (N.  H.  10.  11.  13.  29). 

317.  HINC:  Wernsdorf  interpreted  hinc  as  from  the  water 
fowls  and  the  following  illic  as  in  the  rivers  and  marshes.  Such  an 
interpretation  is  forced,  hinc  and  illic  must  refer  to  Libya 
although  the  logical  connection  is  broken  by  the  interposition  of 
verses  314-16.  Birds  of  brilliant  plumage,  such  as  flamingoes, 
are  most  common  in  Africa,  mage:  an  archaism,  as  ollis,  v. 
264.  PUNICEAS:  sc.  pennas.  The  red  feathers  were  especially 
desirable  for  the  formido;  cf .  Verg.  G.  3.  372 :  "puniceaeue  agitant 
pauidos  formidine  pinnae."  natiuo  munere:  in  natural  state, 
as  opposed  to  the  dyed  feathers. 

319.  rubescere  luto:  lutum  was  properly  a  reddish  yellow 
since  Pliny  declares  it  was  used  for  the  flame-colored  bridal  veil 
(N.  H.  21.  8.  22.  46). 

320.  uernare:  to  be  gay  in  color  as  the  meadows  in  the 
spring  time. 

321.  hiemis  sub  tempus  aquosae:  Xenophon,  Arrian,  and 
Oppian  agree  in  recommending  spring  and  autumn  as  the  best 
seasons  for  hunting.  Other  writers,  however,  agree  with  Neme- 
sianus  in  considering  winter  the  proper  season;  cf.  Hor.  C.  i.  i. 
25;  Ep.  2.29;  Verg.  G.  1 .  307  ff .  hiemis  ....  aquosae: 
cf.  Verg.  Eel.  10.  66:     hiemis     ....     aquosae 

324.   UENEMUR  DUM  MANE  NOUUM:  cf.  Verg.  G.  3.  325: 

"carpamus  dum  mane  nouom,  dum  gramina  canent." 
324-5.     Cf.   Sen.   Phaedr.  40: 

"Nunc  dimissi  nare  sagaci 

captent  auras 
lustraque  presso  quaerant  rostro 
dum  lux  dubia  est,  dum  signa  pedum 
roscida  tellus  impressa  tenet." 

82 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Baehrens,  E. — Poetae  Latini  Minores,  vol.  3,  Leipzig  1881. 

Bruce  and  Havercamp — Poetae  lat.  rei  venaticae  scriptores  et 
Bucolici  antiqui,  Leiden  1728. 

CuRCio,  G. — II  Cynegeticon  di  M.  A.  Olimpio  Nemesiano,  Rivista 
di  Fil.  27.  p.  447. 

Haupt,  M. — Ovidii  Halieutica  Gratii  et  Nemesiani  Cynegetica, 
Leipzig  1838. 

De  Carminibus  Bucolicis  Calpumii  et  Nemesiani,  Opusc.  i , 
Leipzig  1875. 
Lemaire,  N.  E. — Poetae  Latini  Minores,  vol.  i,  Paris  1824. 

Panckoucke,  C.  L.  F. — Poetae  Minores,  Biblioth6que  Latine- 
Frangaise,  vol.  i,  Paris  1842. 

PiNDER,  N. — Less  Known  Latin  Poets,  Oxford  1869. 

PosTGATE,  J.  P. — Corpus  Poetarum  Latinorum,  Fasc.  5,  London 
1905- 

SCHENKL,  H. — Zu  Grattius  und  anderen  lateinischen  Dichtem, 
Jahrb.  £.  class.  Philol.  Suppl.  Bd.  24,  p.  387. 

Stern,  R. — Faliscus  et  Nemesianus,  Halle  1832. 

Wernsdorf,  J.  C. — Poetae  Latini  Minores,  vol.   i,  Altcnburg 
1780. 


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